The Catholic nation was ruled by a Parliament made up exclusively of Protestants, who were often bribed to pass laws that benefited England and not the Irish Catholics. Displeasure with this lack of representation led to the Irish Home Rule movement. At first, the Irish tried to achieve home rule through legislation, but their proposed bills were defeated. With these defeats, the Irish became radicalized and formed their own paramilitary groups to pursue their goal of home rule.
After the outbreak of World War II, any hopes of home rule legislation gaining passage were dashed, so the radical Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) planned an uprising that would garner aid from Germany. This was a highly controversial move even within the group, so the plans were kept secret in order to ensure that it happened.
In early April 1916, a German ship began traveling to Ireland to deliver weapons. A message was sent out that an uprising would occur in the near future. The weapons arrived on April 21, Good Friday, but this was earlier than the IRB expected and the British intercepted the ship because they were aware of the plot, having intercepted radio messages from the Germans. The original date of Easter could no longer be the day of the planned uprising, so Easter Monday, April 24 was chosen. Radical Irish men prepared to fight for their freedom.
On April 24, about 1200 men gathered and began their strategy to attack and capture locations in Dublin. These volunteers were led by James Connolly, Patrick Pearse, Tom Clarke, Sean MacDermott and Joseph Plunkett. These men made the General Post Office their headquarters as it was at the center of Dublin. Outside the building, under a Republican flag, Pearse read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, in which he declared Ireland free of English rule.
Photo: Hilary Grabowska
Martial law was declared in the city and soldiers were sent to put down the uprising. The Irish radicals managed to hold out for five days but retreated from many of their strategic locations and consolidated at the Post Office. Finally, on April 29th, after the Post Office was shelled, the members of the Easter Uprising were forced to surrender.
Their hope that the citizens of Dublin would join them in the rebellion was never realized, and they needed Dublin to fight in order for the rest of Ireland to follow their example.
485 people had been killed in the uprising, most of them citizens on the sidelines, and over 2000 were wounded. More than 3000 people were arrested for their involvement or suspected involvement in the uprising. They were tried in secret by courts martial, which was later proved to have been illegal. Nineteen were sentenced to death and this included all of the signers of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
They were executed by firing squad inside Kilmainham Gaol. The British claimed that only the leaders of the Irish Republican Brotherhood were killed but not all who were executed were actually leaders of the rebellion. One, Eamon De Valera, escaped execution because he was an American citizen.
The executions and harsh treatment by the British upset Dubliners and they became more sympathetic toward the rebels, demonstrating that there was a desire for home rule. However, the secretive approach in planning the uprising had not allowed the citizens to participate, a miscalculation by the rebels. With the escape of De Valera and others from execution, the fight for Irish independence continued and eventually resulted in the Irish War of Independence.
While it failed at the time, the Easter Rising was the beginning of the end of British rule in Ireland.
