The 1916 Rising

By Grace, Aoife and Jessica

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What was the rising?

The Easter Rising in 1916 was a rebellion that took place in Dublin, that lasted
from April 24th to April 30th. The rebellion consisted of 1200 men and women
from the nationalist army, the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen army and the
womens group Cumann na mBan.

Who were the leaders of the 1916 rising?

There was seven leaders in the 1916 rising, Patrick Pearse, James Connolly,
Thomas Clarke, Sean Mac Dermott, Joseph Mary Plunkett, Eamonn Ceant and
Thomas MacDonagh.

The Leaders of the 1916 Rising

Thomas James Clarke: Clarke was born on the Isle of Wight in 1857. His father was a soldier in the British army. During
his time in America as a young man, he joined Clann na nGael, later enduring fifteen years of penal servitude for his role in
a bombing campaign in London, 1883-1898. In 1907, having returned from America, his links with Clan na nGael in
America copper-fastened his importance to the revolutionary movement in Ireland. Clarke was with the group that
occupied the G. P. O. He was executed on 3 May 1916.
amonn Ceannt: Ceannt was born in Galway in 1881 and was an employee of the Dublin Corporation. He was a cofounder of the Irish Volunteers. As the commander of the Fourth Battalion of Irish Volunteers during the Rising, he took
possession of the South Dublin Union, precursor to the modern-day St. Jamess Hospital. He was executed on 8 May
1916.
Sen MacDiarmada: Born in 1884 in Leitrim, MacDiarmada emigrated to Glasgow in 1900, and from there to Belfast in
1902. He was a member of the Gaelic League, and he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1906, while still in
Belfast, later transferring to Dublin in 1908 where he assumed managerial responsibility for the I. R. B. newspaper Irish
Freedom in 1910. Although MacDiarmada was afflicted with polio in 1912, he was appointed as a member of the
provisional committee of Irish Volunteers from 1913. During the Rising MacDiarmada served in the G. P. O. He was
executed on 12 May 1916.

The Leaders of the 1916 Rising

Thomas MacDonagh: MacDonagh was born in Tipperary in 1878, he spent the early part of his career as a teacher. He
moved to Dublin. He was appointed director of training for the Irish Volunteers in 1914, later joining the I. R. B.
MacDonagh was appointed to the I. R. B. military committee in 1916. He was commander of the Second Battalion of
Volunteers that occupied Jacobs biscuit factory and surrounding houses during the Rising. He was executed on 3 May
1916.
Patrick Pearse: Pearse was born in Dublin in 1879, becoming interested in Irish cultural matters in his teenage years. In
1898 Pearse became a member of the Executive Committee of the Gaelic League. Pearse became the editor of An
Claidheamh Soluis, the newspaper of the Gaelic League. One of the founder members of the Irish Volunteers, and the
author of the Proclamation of Independence, Pearse was present in the G. P. O. during the Rising and was Commander in
Chief of the Irish forces. He was executed on 3 May 1916.

The Leaders of the 1916 Rising

Joseph Mary Plunkett: Plunkett was born 1887 in Dublin, he was educated in England, though he returned to Ireland and
graduated from U. C. D. in 1909. After his graduation Plunkett spent two years travelling and due to ill health, he returned
to Dublin in 1911. Plunkett was an editor of the Irish Review. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913, subsequently gaining
membership of the I. R. B. in 1914. During the planning of the Rising, Plunkett was appointed Director of Military
Operations, with overall responsibility for military strategy. Plunkett was one of those who were stationed in the G. P. O.
during the Rising. He married Grace Gifford while in Kilmainham Gaol following the surrender and was executed on 4 May
1916.
James Connolly (1868-1916): Connolly was born in Edinburgh in 1868, and first went to Ireland when he was a member
of the British Army. Despite returning to Scotland, the strong Irish presence in Edinburgh stimulated Connollys growing
interest in Irish politics in the mid 1890s, leading to his emigration to Dublin in 1896 where he founded the Irish Socialist
Republican Party. In 1913, Connolly was one of the founders of the Irish Citizen Army. During the Easter Rising he was
appointed Commandant-General of the Dublin forces, leading the group that occupied the General Post Office. Unable to
stand to during his execution due to wounds received during the Rising, Connolly was executed while sitting down on 12
May 1916. He was the last of the leaders to be executed.

amon de Valera- Early Life

amon de Valera was born in Manhattan, New York, on 14 October 1882, to an Irish mother. His father died when
he was two years old and he was sent to Ireland to be raised by his grandmother, Elizabeth Coll in Co. Limerick.
He attended the local primary school and was later educated by the Christian Brothers at Charleville. At the age of
sixteen he won a scholarship to Blackrock College, in Co. Dublin. In 1903, he was appointed professor of
mathematics at the Rockwell College, Co. Tipperary.
He graduated in 1904 with a degree in mathematics from the Royal University of Ireland (University College Dublin)
and went to teach at Belvedere College. In 1906 he was a professor of mathematics at Careysfort Teachers'
Training College.
Throughout his life, de Valera was devoted to Irish language and culture. Baptised Edward, he named himself
Eamon when he became a member of the Gaelic League in 1908. On the 8 January 1910 he married Sinead
Flanagan.The first of their seven children (five boys and two girls) was born in 1911.
In 1913 he joined the Irish Volunteers and was promoted to captain of the Donnybrook company.In 1915 he was
sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), a secret republican society which aimed to end British rule in
Ireland. De Valera was involved in the landing of arms at Howth harbour from the Asgard in July 1914.
On 24 April 1916, the Easter Rising began in Dublin and de Valera took on the role of commandant.

Eamon de Valeras Later Life

During the rising de Valera was he was commandant at

Bolands Bakery; following the surrender he was courtmartialled and sentenced to death. In part because of his
American birth he was not executed.
He was elected President of the Sinn Fin party and of the
Irish Volunteers in October 1917, and on 1st April 1918,
was made President of the first Dail.
He formed Fianna Fail and in 1927 it entered the Free
State Dil.
He established a newspaper called the Irish Press in
1931.
In 1959 de Valera resigned as Taoiseach
Soon afterwards he was elected as President of Ireland
and again in 1966.
He retired in 1973 and died on 29th August 1975 at the
age of 92.

Michael Collins
Born - Cork 16th of October 1890
He attended school and then worked as a journalist and then he moved to
London where he worked for the GAA. In 1909 he joined the IRB. By 1915 he was
in the high ranks of the IRB branch in London and he was aware of the increasing
tension in dublin. he returned home and joined the recruitment that was
necessary before any uprising could be successful. Despite the unlikelihood of
any success the Easter Rising went ahead. Public sympathy towards the
executed men increased so much that collins and DeValera could see that
nationalism was about to peak in the country.

Michael Collins
Collins was imprisoned in Frongoch internment camp and when he was released
Collins rose to a high position in Sinn Fin and the IRB. He started to organise a
guerrilla war against Britain and broke DeValera out of prison. The war against
the British continued on into 1920 and 1921 despite the introduction of the Black
and Tans.
Collins died in an ambush in Cork in 1922.

The Irish Volunteers

The Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was
formed in response to the Ulster Volunteers being formed in 1912, and its aim was "to secure and
maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland".
The Volunteers included members of the Gaelic League, Ancient Order of Hibernians and Sinn Fin
and secretly, the IRB. It split in September of that year over John Redmond's commitment to the
British War effort, with the smaller group retaining the name of "Irish Volunteers".
The Irish Volunteers fought for Irish independence in the Easter Rising of 1916, alongside the Irish
Citizen Army, Cumann na mBan, and Fianna ireann.
From 1919 it took part in the Irish War of Independence, becoming known as the Irish Republican
Army.

The Irish Citizen Army

The Irish Citizen Army or ICA, was a small group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish
Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) established in Dublin for the defence of worker's
demonstrations from the police. It was formed by James Larkin, James Connolly and Jack White
on 23 November 1913. They
On Monday, 24 April 1916, 220 of them (including 28 women) took part in the Easter Rising,
alongside the Irish Volunteers. They helped occupy the G.P.O, St. Stephens Green, Dublin Castle
and Harcourt Railway Station.
Sean Connolly, an ICA officer was the first rebel to kill a British soldier and the first to be killed.
A total of eleven Citizen Army men were killed in action in the rising.

Cumann na mBan

Cumann na mBan was an Irish Republican Womens Paramilitary Organization formed in 1914.
On the day of the Rising, Cumann na mBan members entered the G.P.O. with their male
counterparts. The women were established in all the major rebel strongholds throughout the city.
The women in Cumann na mBan fought alongside the men and were not confined to nursing
duties or other tasks traditionally assigned to women such as making tea and sandwiches for the
fighting men. Many acted as spies on scouting expeditions.

The Planning of The Rising.

The Rising was planned in secret by seven men, mostly belonging to the
Irish Republican Brotherhood.
The Supreme Council of the IRB met on the 5th of September, 1914. Just a
month after the UK government declared war on Germany.
At this meeting they decided to organise a rising before the war ended. The
responsibility for planning the rising was given to Tom Clarke and San
MacDermott.

The Planning of the Rising.

In May 1915, Clarke and MacDermott established a military committee,

consisting of Pearse, Plunkett and Ceannt to draw up plans for a rising.
Plunkett travelled to America to meet with Roger Casement to discuss arms
and ammunition.
Clarke, MacDermott, MacDonagh and Connolly later joined the Military
committee.

The Proclamation and Irish Flag

On the 24th of April, 1916 a document called the Proclamation of the Irish Republic was read in
front of the G.P.O by Patrick Pearse.
The 7 leaders of the 1916 Rising signed the proclamation and were executed by the British
Government for their efforts in trying to secure a free Ireland
The Irish Flag was also was also put up outside the G.P.O. The green represented the nationalists,
the orange represented the unionists and the white represented the peace between the two
groups.

Casualties of the Rising

Dublin city centre was almost completely destroyed after the Easter Rising. There was a total of five
hundred people killed during the fighting. Three hundred of the dead were civilians who were not involved
in the fighting. There were a total of 2,500 wounded, of which 2,000 were ordinary civilians.
Fifteen executions took place after the Rising, and 1,841 suspected rebels were sent to prison in England.
The British Army reported casualties of 116 dead, 368 wounded and nine missing.Sixteen policemen died,
and 29 were wounded. Rebel and civilian casualties were 318 dead and 2,217 wounded. The Volunteers
and ICA recorded 64 killed in action. All 16 police fatalities and 22 of the British soldiers killed were
Irishmen.
The majority of the casualties, both killed and wounded, were civilians. Both sides, British and rebel, shot
civilians deliberately on occasion when they refused to obey orders such as to stop at checkpoints. On
top of that, there were two instances of British troops killing civilians out of revenge or frustration, at
Portobello Barracks, where six were shot and North King Street, where 15 were killed.

Aftermath of the Rising

On Saturday the 29th of April 1916, Patrick Pearse surrendered to the British commander General Lowe to save the
lives of rebels and civilians. The rebels were taken as prisoners to Richmond Barracks. Fifteen of the leaders were
executed and many others were sent to prisons, mainly in England or Wales.
The 1916 Rising had failed to get independence for Ireland. However the Rising had made the cause of
independence more popular as many Irish people were so outraged by the executions that they also began to call
for independence from Britain. Outside of Dublin, the other main place where the Easter Rising took place was in
Ashbourne, County Meath.
The First World War ended in November 1918 and a general election was called in London. Huge numbers of Irish
people voted for Sinn Fin and elected their members as Members of Parliament (MPs). People knew that any Sinn
Fin candidate who won a seat in the election would not go to the parliament in London and that they would try to
set up a parliament in Ireland instead. On the 21 st of January 1919 the newly elected Sinn Fin MPs called a
meeting at the Mansion House in Dublin and set up a new parliament called Dil ireann. This was the first
meeting of the Irish Dil and the new parliament declared that Ireland was now independent. They later chose
amon de Valera as the first president of the Dil.

Aftermath of the Rising

After the Sinn Fin MPs set up the new parliament in 1919, Ireland then had two governments; one was
the new Dil ireann in Dublin and the other was the British parliament in London. Both had courts and
both collected taxes, which resulted in a lot of disorder. Violence soon broke out in Ireland and the army
of Sinn Fin, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), began to attack people who supported British law.

The First Dil