DOCSLIB.ORG

Easter Rising

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Easter Rising THE EASTER RISING By Mike McPhee Like all histories, the story of the Easter Rising of 1916 goes back long before the event and the only question is where to begin. It will be sufficient to note that there had been uprisings against English rule in every century since the 1500s, the failures of which led to ever-greater restrictions against Catholics and dispossession of the Irish leadership. The Rising of 1798 was noteworthy for taking place in both the Protestant north and the Catholic south of the island, which so alarmed the British authorities that they put it down with appalling savagery and afterward abolished the Irish Parliament. The new Kilmainham Gaol that had been built in Dublin to replace the decrepit old prison was used instead for a host of political prisoners, a role it continued to fulfill until it was closed in 1924 to become a museum of the Irish national struggle. The Irish political leadership largely devoted the next century to legal campaigns, with Daniel O’Connell agitating for the emancipation of Catholics from the many social and economic barriers against them. Charles Stewart Parnell and his Land League campaigned successfully for the rights of tenant farmers and, most importantly, for the right of Catholics to own land. Once this much progress had been made, attention turned to achieving Home Rule; that is, the restoration of Dublin Parliament. This had both Catholic and Protestant supporters, who saw the benefits of self-government, but there were also Unionists who feared a Catholic-dominated parliament. The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed by Parnell in 1882 and soon became the dominant force in Irish politics. Two Home Rule bills were presented at Westminster by the Liberal prime minister, William Gladstone, in 1886 and 1893 but failed to become law. (The second attempt was passed in the House of Commons but was rejected by the House of Lords.) The third Home Rule Bill of 1912 was successful, only because the Lords had lost their veto power and could only delay passage for two years, which they did. Though the new bill provided for parliaments in both Dublin and Belfast, the northern Unionists were still opposed to it and formed the Ulster Volunteers militia in 1912. John Redmond, who had led the IPP since 1899, raised a southern corps called the Irish Volunteers in response to that. The two groups imported large quantities of German armaments – again, the Ulster group was the first to do so – and often drilled openly. The Home Rule Act of September 1914 was suspended for the duration of World War I, during which many members of both militias enlisted into the British Army in the hope of furthering their respective positions after the war. Those who remained in Ireland declared themselves a ‘home guard’, retaining their uniforms and weapons. Throughout the previous century, however, another political tendency had quietly arisen – or, rather, had not died out after the 1798 Rising. Alongside the Catholic Association and the Land League campaigns, there had been an Irish cultural revival of more definitively national character than those which merely sought to improve Ireland’s status within the United Kingdom. Organisations like the College Historical Society and the Phoenix National and Literary Society evolved respectively into the Young Ireland movement and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (also known as Fenians). The Gaelic League, committed to restoring the national language from virtual extinction, also found itself a gathering place for future revolutionary leaders. One such member was the poet and scholar, Patrick Henry Pearse, who founded two bilingual schools. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, the Supreme Council of the IRB met and determined to take action while the UK armed forces were preoccupied. The IRB treasurer, Tom Clarke, formed a Military Council which consisted of of Patrick Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett, with himself and Seán Mac Diarmada added shortly thereafter. All except Clarke had been officers in the Irish Volunteers since its inception and had been getting fellow IRB members promoted to officer rank whenever possible. By 1916, a large proportion of the Volunteer leader-ship were committed Republicans, but not the founder and Chief-of-Staff, Eoin MacNeill. The latter approved of a rebellion only if Westminster sought to conscript Irishmen for the war or to disarm the Volunteers, which he thought would generate sufficient popular support for such an uprising to have a chance of success. The IRB hoped to win him over closer to the event or, if necessary, to bypass his command. However, if MacNeill knew nothing about the conspiracy in his ranks, hardly anyone in the IRB knew about Sir Roger Casement’s secret mission. That famous consular official had taken up the Irish cause late in life and gone to Germany to obtain weapons and recruit Irish prisoners of war. He had more success in the former endeavour than in the latter, but only learned about the planned uprising shortly before he left Germany. Back in Dublin, another revolutionary organisation was unaware of the IRB’s plans but planning an uprising of its own. This was the Irish Citizen Army, an armed group of socialist trade unionists under the leadership of James Connolly, who threatened to act on their own if no other parties would do so. Because that group was only 200 strong, the IRB was concerned that any such adventure on their part would be a disaster and ruin their own chances. Consequently, they met with Connolly in January 1916 and convinced him to join forces with the Volunteers. It emerged that both groups had essentially the same plan of seizing strategic buildings and facilities in central Dublin; however, the Volunteers had detachments all over the country who were also meant to go into action at the same time. They also had Casement arriving in a German U-boat, accompanied by a boatload of armaments, and scheduled to land in County Kerry in the southwest a few days before the Rising. Unfortunately, Casement felt that his shipment was insufficient for the purpose and landed alone with the intention of warning the IRB not to proceed. Instead, he was captured by British soldiers and the freighter was scuttled when it was engaged by a Royal Navy vessel. Early in April, Pearse had called the Volunteers out for three days of ostensible parades and manoeuvres commencing on Easter Sunday, which the IRB expected Eoin MacNeill and the British authorities to take at face value. However, MacNeill had finally learned of the real plan and was only dissuaded from thwarting the operation when told about Casement’s mission. When he heard of its failure, he sent countermanding orders around the country with the fatal effects of delaying the Rising by a day and greatly reducing the number of participants. Only some 1250 men mobilised in Dublin on that fateful Easter Monday, 24 April.. The Dublin division of the Volunteers consisted of four battalions, each with an IRB commandant. A makeshift 5th Battalion consisted mostly of Citizen Army personnel under the command of James Connolly, but with them were the IRB leadership – Patrick Pearse, Thomas Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada and Joseph Plunkett – also, a young Volunteer captain named Michael Collins. This group paraded to the General Post Office in Sackville Street (now O’Connell Street) and took it over, after which Pearse read the Proclamation of the Republic from its front steps to a crowd of bemused onlookers. The 1st Battalion, under Edward Daly, seized the Four Courts while Thomas MacDonagh’s 2nd Battalion occupied the Jacob’s Biscuit Factory, south of the city centre. The 3rd Battalion, led by Éamon de Valera (the future president), took over the Boland’s Flour Mill and adjoining railyards; and Eamonn Ceannt’s 4th Battalion established itself in the South Dublin Union workhouse to the southwest. Members of the Citizen Army, under Michael Mallin and Countess Constance Markiewicz (the Anglo-Irish wife of a Polish nobleman), commandeered the central park of St. Stephen’s Green. The shortage of troops prevented two important targets from being taken – Dublin Castle, which was wrongly supposed to be too heavily defended, and Trinity College. The British commander, Colonel Cowan, having only 2800 troops in the city, proceeded with caution after an attack by his Lancers on the GPO headquarters was driven back. There the rebels had barricaded themselves in and hung two flags from the poles on the roof: a green flag with a harp and the inscription, ‘Irish Republic’, and the previously unknown green, white and gold Tricolour. Cowan secured the approaches to Dublin Castle, called for reinforcements and ordered field artillery to be brought from Athlone, in the Midlands. He then placed snipers and machine guns around the rebel strongholds and awaited the arrival of troops from elsewhere in Ireland. By the Tuesday morning, a further 1800 soldiers had arrived from Belfast and the Curragh, along with Brigadier-General Lowe, who assumed command. The lightly-manned City Hall and Daily Express buildings were recaptured and machine gun fire drove the rebels from their trenches in St. Stephen’s Green to the safety of the Royal College of Surgeons. The Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wimborne proclaimed martial law – not least, because hordes from the Dublin slums were looting the department stores and other businesses in the city centre. He was soon to have the forces he needed, as 15,000 British troops (mostly trainees) arrived from Liverpool during the night. Early on the Wednesday, a gunship sailed up the Liffey and shelled the unoccupied Liberty Hall (headquarters of Connolly’s union) to the ground.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Irish History Links
    Irish History topics pulled together by Dan Callaghan NC AOH Historian in 2014 Athenry Castle; http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/travel/attractions/castles/Galway/athenry.shtm Brehon Laws of Ireland; http://www.libraryireland.com/Brehon-Laws/Contents.php February 1, in ancient Celtic times, it was the beginning of Spring and later became the feast day for St. Bridget; http://www.chalicecentre.net/imbolc.htm May 1, Begins the Celtic celebration of Beltane, May Day; http://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/beltane.htm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ February 14, 269, St. Valentine, buried in Dublin; http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/irhismys/valentine.htm March 17, 461, St. Patrick dies, many different reports as to the actual date exist; http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm Dec. 7, 521, St. Columcille is born, http://prayerfoundation.org/favoritemonks/favorite_monks_columcille_columba.htm January 23, 540 A.D., St. Ciarán, started Clonmacnoise Monastery; http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04065a.htm May 16, 578, Feast Day of St. Brendan; http://parish.saintbrendan.org/church/story.php June 9th, 597, St. Columcille, dies at Iona; http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ASaints/Columcille.html Nov. 23, 615, Irish born St. Columbanus dies, www.newadvent.org/cathen/04137a.htm July 8, 689, St. Killian is put to death; http://allsaintsbrookline.org/celtic_saints/killian.html October 13, 1012, Irish Monk and Bishop St. Colman dies; http://www.stcolman.com/ Nov. 14, 1180, first Irish born Bishop of Dublin, St. Laurence O'Toole, dies, www.newadvent.org/cathen/09091b.htm June 7, 1584, Arch Bishop Dermot O'Hurley is hung by the British for being Catholic; http://www.exclassics.com/foxe/dermot.htm 1600 Sept.
    [Show full text]
  • Teachers' Notes
    TEACHERS’ NOTES PRIMARY VIRTUAL TOUR Introduction This set of Teachers’ Notes has been created by the Education Department of the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks in order to aid the teaching and interpretation of the ‘Proclaiming a Republic: the 1916 Rising’ Virtual Tour. The virtual tour - Provide teachers and student with an engaging and thought-provoking learning resource based around the aims to: 1916 Easter Rising and the National Museum of Ireland’s expansive ‘Easter Week’ collection of artefacts and images. - Provoke discussion and reflection upon key themes reflected in the exhibition. These include the roles of ordinary people during the Rising, in particular children, young people and women – the choices they had to make and what motivated those choices. These Teachers’ - Provide further information about the key artefacts on each stop of the Notes aim to: Virtual Tour, as well as a brief historical context. - Suggest potential discussion points in order to aid classroom discussion, and to suggest possible solo and group activities for students to engage in, which will enhance their understanding of the material presented. - Provide teachers with the relevant curriculum links, highlighting why each section of the tour was chosen and to explain what we hope to achieve for students at each location. Themes 1. The theme of choices – what motivated those who took part in the Rising and why others did not participate? We also consider those who had no A number of themes choice but were impacted by, or caught up in the Rising. We ask students are highlighted and to think about what choices they might have made, and to consider the explored throughout complexities inherent in these choices.
    [Show full text]
  • Dissertations Completed
    Dissertations Completed 2010-11 • Thunder at the door: manifestations of gender based violence during the Irish war of independence • Discourse and discord: the rhetoric and rationale of John Redmond in the pursuit of Home Rule for Ireland, 1910-1914 • Female activism in the Irish Free State, 1922-37 • The ‘Red Scare’ in 1950s Dublin: genuine or generated? The role of Archbishop McQuaid’s Vigilance Committee • ‘A policy of terrorism is not one to which Englishmen will succumb’: British policing and the Irish-American dynamite campaign • Protestant attitudes in the emerging Catholic Irish Free State • Legends of the Irish Republican Army in Cork • The implications of policy makers on the intelligence process: British intelligence in Ireland 1916-21 • A quantitive analysis of women at risk for prostitution in Dublin admitted into the Westmoreland Lock Hospital during Ireland’s great Famine between 1845 and 1852 • Church, property and income versus compassion: the defeat of the 1986 divorce referendum • The Irish in Rotherhithe at the beginning of the twentieth century: a profile of an integrated community • Rape and stripping in the Irish rebellion of 1641: a contextual analysis • A result less astounding: the civil war in Westmeath, January 1922-May 1923 2009-10 • A journey of hope: James Larkin, the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union and the working class, 1880-1913 • ‘In every instance even-handed justice will be meted out to all according to their deserts’: the Irish Worker newspaper, 1911-14 • ‘Tell her gently’: death and bereavement
    [Show full text]
  • Michael Mallin: 16Lives Pdf, Epub, Ebook
    MICHAEL MALLIN: 16LIVES PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Brian Hughes | 272 pages | 28 Jun 2012 | O'Brien Press Ltd | 9781847172662 | English | Dublin, Ireland Michael Mallin: 16Lives PDF Book Head This was Please try again or alternatively you can contact your chosen shop on or send us an email at. The summary trial by field general court-martial, an all-military court, was held in-camera. Our rights and liberties have been trampled on by an alien aristocracy, who treating us as foes, usurped our lands, and drew away from our unfortunate country all material riches. Wikimedia Commons. He also went to Kerry, West Cork and Tipperary. A few days later, a further shipment of rifles and 20, rounds of ammunition is landed in Kilcoole, Co. Lorcan lectures on Easter in the United States and is a regular contributor to radio, television and historical journals. These are sometimes visible as horizontal lines of ink on Proclamations and can be quite random. Republicans of the entire world, our cause is your cause. This item can be requested from the shops shown below. They also decided to postpone the Rising to the following day, Easter Monday, 24 April , at 12 noon. The British troops have been firing on our women and on our Red Cross. Page Prev of 2 Next. He had been unable to attend at the time the signatures were being put to the Proclamation; but the naked fact is that he did not write his name to the Proclamation. Dublin streets returning to normality: shops open, trams begin to run and the DMP resumes control of policing , 4 May Thursday 4—4.
    [Show full text]
  • The Main Sites of Activity During the Rising. St Stephen's Green and The
    7.0 The Main Sites of Activity During the Rising. 7.9 St Stephen’s Green and the Royal College of Surgeons Commandant Michael Mallin and his second in command, Countess Markievicz, were assigned to St Stephen’s Green, a rectangular park, approximately twenty acres in size located a mile south of the General Post Office and close to Jacob’s. The current membership of the Irish Citizen Army was approximately 400; it is estimated that 200-250 turned out during the Rising, most of them serving with Mallin in the St Stephen’s Green area, the main exceptions being those with Seán Connolly at City Hall. Mallin proceeded to fortify his position, posting men in some of the houses overlooking the Green and setting men to work digging trenches to cover the entrances. He dispatched parties to take over Harcourt Street railway station, J. & T. Davy’s public house at the junction of South Richmond Street and Charlemont Mall, and houses at Leeson Street bridge. It soon transpired that St Stephen’s Green was a vulnerable position, as it was overlooked by the Shelbourne Hotel and some other tall buildings that had not been occupied by Mallin’s forces. Mallin had military experience, having served for fourteen years in the British army, part of the time as a non- commissioned officer (NCO). Presumably, when St Stephen’s Green was originally selected as a position it was expected that there would be enough men to occupy the Shelbourne Hotel and all the other tall buildings, but that was not the case.
    [Show full text]
  • From the Putumayo to Connemara Roger Casement's Amazonian
    Irish Migration Studies in Latin America Vol. 4, No. 3: July 2006 www.irlandeses.org From the Putumayo to Connemara Roger Casement’s Amazonian Voyage of Discovery * Peter James Harris University of São Paulo Roger Casement in his Brazilian Period (Pádraig Ó Cuanacháin Irish History) This article examines the evidence provided by Roger Casement’s accounts of his voyage to the Putu- mayo in the Amazon rain forest in 1910 in order to reveal the Odyssean complexity of his personality, and to suggest that, in a metaphorical sense at least, this journey represented the beginnings of an Irish homecoming for Casement, just as the wanderings of Homer’s hero led him to the recovery of his house and kingdom in Ithaca. The hanging of Roger Casement as a traitor at Pentonville prison, London, on 3 August 1916 placed him amongst the most prominent martyrs to the Irish nationalist cause. Yet just five years previously he had received a knighthood from the British government for his investigations into the methods of white rubber traders in the Peruvian jungle. The dichotomy in his character represented by these two moments has been charted as a life-long series of ambivalences and paradoxes in Roger Sawyer’s biography Casement: The Flawed Hero (1984), and was judged to be of paramount significance by the prosecution in his trial for treason. A compulsive journal-writer, Casement was to find his diaries used at the time of his trial to sully his reputation and to ensure that he was denied the chance of a reprieve. To this day, opinion continues to be divided between those who believe that his ‘Black’ diaries are a genuine, albeit clandestine, account of his homosexual activities, written at a time when such activities were a prisonable offence, and those who claim that they were the calumnious work of the British Secret Service.
    [Show full text]
  • Secret Societies and the Easter Rising
    Dominican Scholar Senior Theses Student Scholarship 5-2016 The Power of a Secret: Secret Societies and the Easter Rising Sierra M. Harlan Dominican University of California https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2016.HIST.ST.01 Survey: Let us know how this paper benefits you. Recommended Citation Harlan, Sierra M., "The Power of a Secret: Secret Societies and the Easter Rising" (2016). Senior Theses. 49. https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2016.HIST.ST.01 This Senior Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Dominican Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Dominican Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE POWER OF A SECRET: SECRET SOCIETIES AND THE EASTER RISING A senior thesis submitted to the History Faculty of Dominican University of California in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in History by Sierra Harlan San Rafael, California May 2016 Harlan ii © 2016 Sierra Harlan All Rights Reserved. Harlan iii Acknowledgments This paper would not have been possible without the amazing support and at times prodding of my family and friends. I specifically would like to thank my father, without him it would not have been possible for me to attend this school or accomplish this paper. He is an amazing man and an entire page could be written about the ways he has helped me, not only this year but my entire life. As a historian I am indebted to a number of librarians and researchers, first and foremost is Michael Pujals, who helped me expedite many problems and was consistently reachable to answer my questions.
    [Show full text]
  • Easter Rising Heroes 1916
    Cead mile Failte to the 3rd in a series of 1916 Commemorations sponsored by the LAOH and INA of Cleveland. Tonight we honor all the Men and Women who had a role in the Easter 1916 Rising whether in the planning or active participation.Irish America has always had a very important role in striving for Irish Freedom. I would like to share a quote from George Washington "May the God in Heaven, in His justice and mercy, grant thee more prosperous fortunes and in His own time, cause the sun of Freedom to shed its benign radiance on the Emerald Isle." 1915-1916 was that time. On the death of O'Donovan Rossa on June 29, 1915 Thomas Clarke instructed John Devoy to make arrangements to bring the Fenian back home. I am proud that Ellen Ryan Jolly the National President of the LAAOH served as an Honorary Pallbearer the only woman at the Funeral held in New York. On August 1 at Glasnevin the famous oration of Padraic Pearse was held at the graveside. We choose this week for this presentation because it was midway between these two historic events as well as being the Anniversary week of Constance Markeivicz death on July 15,1927. She was condemned to death in 1916 but as a woman her sentence was changed to prison for life. And so we remember those executed. We remember them in their own words and the remembrances of others. Sixteen Dead Men by WB Yeats O but we talked at large before The Sixteen men were shot But who can talk of give and take, What should be and what not While those dead men are loitering there To stir the boiling pot? You say that
    [Show full text]
  • ROINN COSANTA. BUREAU of MILITARY HISTORY, 1913-21. STATEMENT by WITNESS DOCUMENT NO. W.S. 588 Witness Rev. Fr. J.M. Cronin
    ROINN COSANTA. BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY, 1913-21. STATEMENT BY WITNESS DOCUMENT NO. W.S. 588 Witness Rev. Fr. J.M. Cronin, St. Joseph's School, Ferryhouse, Glonmel, Go. Tipperary. Identity. Catholic priest at St. Etheldreda's, London, 1916. Subject. His recollections of Casement's last days in Pentonville Prison. Conditions, if any, Stipulated by Witness. Nil File No S.1845 FormB.S.M.2 STAT4ENT BY VERY REV. J.M. CRONIN St. Joseph's School, Ferryhouse, Cloninel, Co. Tipperary. Memories re Casement lodged in the Tower and his last days at Pentonville. As far as I. can recollect after a period of well over thirty years, I set down some data in connection with Roger Casement's imprisonment and his last days in the condemned cell. A Catholic convert friend, Mr. Guy Ellis, a lawyer who had rooms and offices in Grays Inn, and who was Treasurer for the Propagation of the Faith in England over a long period of years, St. called on me at my residence at the Presbytery, Ethelareda's, 14 Ely Place, London, and asked me to meet at his offices in Grays Inn a young Irish lawyer named Duffy, who wanted to meet an Irish priest on a most urgent matter. Mr. Duffy, he told me, was in London and was considering whether he would enter into partnership with This to explain the presence of Mr. Duffy in his own office. He told me also that he had arranged for a lunch to be sent in and that Mr. Duffy and myself privatecould talk over the matter privately in his own room so as not to be disturbed.
    [Show full text]
  • Bureauofmiliary History1913-21 Burostairemileata1913-21
    ORIGINAL BUREAUOFMILIARY HISTORY1913-21 BUROSTAIREMILEATA1913-21 No. W.S. 494 ROINN COSANTA. BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY, 1913-21. STATEMENT BY WITNESS DOCUMENT NO. W.S. 494 Witness Peter Kieran, 14 Brook Street, Dundalk, Co. Louth. Identity Member of Sinn Fein, Dundalk, 1906-1921; Member of Irish Volunteers, Dundalk, 1914-1921. Subject (a) National Organisations, Dundalk, 1906-1921; (b) in "Split" the Volunteer Organisation; (c) Co. Louth, Easter Week 1916. if Conditions, any, Stipulated by Witness Nil File NO.S.1653 Form BUREAU OFMILITARYHISTORY1913-21 BURO STAITEMILEATA1931-21 ORIGINAL No. W.S. 494 STATEMENT OF Mr. PETER KIERAN 14 Brook Street, Dundalk, County Louth. The start of in Dundalk Was Sinn Fein in the year 1906. The officers of the Dundalk Club were Bill Darcy,, Coburn, President; James Vice-President; Paddy Hughes, Secretary; Joe Magill (deceased), Assistant Secretary. was held The First metting in the Board Room in the Town Hall. Forty members joined. In was 1907 there a change of officers. Paddy Hughes became President. John O'Byrne and Joe Berrill Were the Secretaries. The Club removed to premises at Bachelor's Walk. The Principal activities of Sinn Fein in Dundalk were and holding ceilis which were largely attended producing as Robert Etc. dramas such Emmet, / Paddy Martin, Mick Toner, Hugh Kearney and Willie Brennan Were associated all with Hughes in those activities. About 1908 an excursion boat by left Dundalk for Dublin in the 'Earl of and Union Erne', the Jack was flown on the boat. Paddy Hughes, who travelled on that boat, informed the excursionists that no Irishman should travel under the British flag in Irish and he flag waters cut the down and it fell into the sea.
    [Show full text]
  • Secular Relics: Casement’S Boat, Casement’S Dish
    Textual Practice 16(2), 2002, 277–302 Lucy McDiarmid Secular relics: Casement’s boat, Casement’s dish ‘An té a bhíonn go maith duit, bí go maith dhó,’ mar a dúirt Cailleach Bhéarra le Cailleach Mhaigh Eo.’ ‘The one who’s good to you, be good to him,’ as the Witch of Beare said to the Witch of Mayo.’ (proverb) The moment Roger Casement landed on Irish soil in North Kerry on 21 April, Good Friday, 1916, around two-thirty in the morning, grand, magical transformations took place. The small wooden rowboat carrying Casement and two companions from the German U-boat had overturned in the waves, and the men pulled it along as they swam ashore. Soaking wet, exhausted, Casement touched Banna Strand and fell asleep. A change occurred: his body became a collection of future rst-class relics, his clothing and possessions future second-class relics, and all the paraphernalia he brought ashore instant memorabilia. At that moment Banna Strand itself became a charismatic landscape, a place of supernatural power, a point of pilgrimage. 1 Even before the people of North Kerry were aware that a patriot ready to die for Ireland had landed in their midst, objects ew from the scene. By four in the morning, when Casement and the others had gone inland, the boat had been claimed as salvage by the rst local resident who saw it, John McCarthy, though it was appropriated by the police before it could be sold. 2 By nine in the morning, the dagger (one of several weapons in the pile of equipment not quite hidden in the sand) had been taken by Thomas Lyons, whose nephew mentioned the theft in a letter thirty-six years later.
    [Show full text]
  • O'driscoll, C. (2017) Knowing and Forgetting the Easter 1916 Rising
    O'Driscoll, C. (2017) Knowing and forgetting the Easter 1916 Rising. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 63(3), pp. 419-429. (doi:10.1111/ajph.12371) There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it. This is the peer-reviewed version of the following article: O'Driscoll, C. (2017) Knowing and forgetting the Easter 1916 Rising. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 63(3), pp. 419-429, which has been published in final form at 10.1111/ajph.12371. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/149937/ Deposited on: 17 October 2017 Enlighten – Research publications by members of the University of Glasgow http://eprints.gla.ac.uk Knowing and Forgetting the Easter 1916 Rising Cian O’Driscoll University of Glasgow [email protected] Introduction “Life springs from death; and from the graves of patriot men and women spring living nations.”1 The Easter Rising took place on Easter Monday, the 24th April, 1916. Focused primarily on a set of strategic locations in the heart of Dublin, it was directed by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and carried out by a militant force of no more than 1,600 men and women. The Rising began when rebels seized several buildings in Dublin city-centre, including the General Post Office (GPO), from where Patrick Pearse later that day proclaimed the establishment of the Irish Republic.
    [Show full text]