The 1916 Irish Easter Uprising
Ever since the occupation of Ireland by the English began in 1169, Irish patriots have fought back against British rule, and the many Irish rebellions and civil wars had always been defeated. To quash further rebellion, the Act of Union was imposed in 1800, tying Ireland to the United Kingdom of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Laws discriminating against Catholics and the handling of the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-50 led to increased tension and the proposal of introducing Home Rule gained support.
In 1913 there was a general strike of workers in Dublin led by James Connolly of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (I.T.G.W.U.). This action was followed by the 1913 Lock-Out during which employers literally locked workers out of their factories. Also in 1913 John Redmond, leader of the Irish Nationalist Party, created the Irish Volunteers to counter the Ulster Volunteers, an organisation created to fight against Home Rule. His chief-of-staff was Eoin MacNeill and his commandant was Patrick Pearse.
When World War I began, Irish nationalists flocked to sign up for Britain’s war effort in the hundreds of thousands. They believed they were at last making Ireland one of the small nations of Europe, and that in showing their good faith in Britain they were ensuring Home Rule be passed. However, another more extreme tradition of patriotism considered Home Rule a sell-out. Thomas J. Clarke, who had been previously gaoled after being sent to England on a dynamiting mission in 1883, immigrated to America and then returned to Ireland in 1907. In his tobacconist’s shop in Dublin the Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.), a group of patriots who wanted national independence, was being revived. He held a meeting with, among others, Patrick Pearse, Eoin MacNeill and Sean MacDermott, who had broken away with a minority of extremist Volunteers when Redmond co-operated with the war effort, and Connolly who was now the creator and commander of the Irish Citizen Army, a worker’s fighting force designed to defend against police brutality. There they made the decision to rise in arms against British rule.
Together they created front organisations for propaganda purposes, such as the Neutrality League and the Wolfe Tone Memorial Committee. The latter organised the funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, a supporter of the republican ...
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...n the Web, Dublin, Ireland. Available from: [24/4/05]
Anon. (1994). Irish History: 1916 Easter Rebellion [Internet]. Document created by Irish Northern Aid Inc., New York, USA. Available from: [15/2/05]
Berry, Ben. (2002). Easter 1916, [Internet]. Document reproduced by University of Maryland Honours Program, Maryland, USA. Available from: [18/4/05]
Fitzgibbon, Constantine. 1916: The Rising, Britain. Article reproduced by Irish Jokes: An Alternative Website (2004) [Internet]. Available from: [12/2/04]
Grant, Ted. (1966). Connolly and the 1916 Easter Uprising [Internet]. Document created by In Defence of Marxism Website, Australia. Available from: [19/4/05]
Journal Articles
Anon. (2004). ‘Working-Class Hero: James Connolly’, Forward! Magazine of the Connolly Youth Movement, Spring 2004. Article reproduced by The Communist Party of Ireland (2004) [Internet]. Available from: [18/4/05]
Mackin, James A. (1997). ‘Sacrifice and Moral Hierarchy: The Rhetoric of Irish Republicans, 1916-23’, The American Communications Journal, Volume 1, Issue 3, September 1997. Article reproduced by The American Communications Journal, North Carolina, USA [Internet]. Available from: [18/3/05]
Meagher, Timothy. “The Columbia Guide to Irish American History.” Columbia University Press- New York, 2005
In 1912 British parliament gave home rule to Ireland. Home rule is when a country who is ruled by another country is giving the ability to govern its self. However some people in Irelands Northern counties did not want home rule. They wanted to remain governed by Britain. So the people in the Northern Counties (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone) remained under British rule while the Southern Counties formed the Republic of Ireland. Shortly after the formation of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland hostilities pushed these two countries to the brink of civil war. This was prevented by the start of World War I.
O'Connor, Thomas H. The Boston Irish: A Political History. Boston, MA. Northeastern University Press, 1995.
There is particular consideration given to the political climate in this story. It is incorporated with social and ethnic concerns that are prevalent. The story also addresses prejudice and the theme of ethnic stereotyping through his character development. O'Connor does not present a work that is riddled with Irish slurs or ethnic approximations. Instead, he attempts to provide an account that is both informative and accurate.
The British occupation of Ireland began in the 1640’s and lasted until 1922. No other occurrence throughout Irish history has had a greater impact on the lives of the citizens of the country. Along with the act of occupation came the emergence of Protestantism, which conflicted with the traditional religion of Ireland, Catholicism. The English occupation of Ireland affected many aspects of Irish history from the potato famine to the War for Independence. However, Irish nationalism came to a boiling point April of 1916, in what is now known as the Easter Uprising. The uprising lasted 6 days and resulted in massive casualties, but furthered the liberation cause for the Irish.
Irish American Magazine, Aug.-Sept. 2009. Web. The Web. The Web. 06 May 2014.
Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. Due to the Great Depression, Malachy could not find work in America. However, things did not get any better back in Ireland for Malachy. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Week after week, Angela would be home expecting her husband to come home with money to eat, but Malachy always spent his wages on pints at local pubs. Frank’s father would come home late at night and make his sons get out of bed and sing patriotic songs about Ireland by Roddy McCorley and Kevin Barry, who were hung for their country. Frank loved his father and got an empty feeling in his heart when he knew his father was out of work again. Frank described his father as the Holy Trinity because there is three people in him, “The one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the smell of whiskey and wants us to die for Ireland” (McCourt 210). Even when there was a war going on and English agents were recruiting Irishmen to work in their munitions factories, Malachy could not keep a job when he traveled to England.
Civil War in Ireland in 1914 Introduction The third home rule bill sparked unionism among members. opposed the bill, which in turn brought about Nationalism who sought to protect the property of the owner. These two paramilitary groups brought Ireland to the brink of civil war by 1914. When the Liberals won power in 1906 they tried to keep the Irish question. in the background, ensuring it stayed well down the political agenda.
New York, New York: 1993. Garrett, Peter K., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Dubliners.
The Irish Republican Army started after they were recognized by Irish Nationalists when they were Irish Volunteers from starting the Easter Rising. Their main purpose of creating w...
The War of Independence (WOI) was fought between the years 1918 and 1921 and ‘was mainly limited to Dublin and the province of Munster, and the IRA victories were few and far between’ . Ireland had forgotten about its aspirations for Home Rule and was now looking for a more drastic form of Independence. The war had its origins in the formation of unilaterally created independent Irish parliament, called Dáil Éireann, formed by the majority of MPs elected in Irish constituencies in the Irish (UK) general election, 1918. This parliament, known as the First Dáil, and its ministry, called the Aireacht declared Irish independence. The Dáil knew that ‘England’s difficulty (was) Ireland’s opportunity’ and ceized the day. After the failed rebelion of 1916 public sympathies slowly but surely swung to the millitant IRA (and Sinn Fein). By 1921 the WOI was a cause of British anxiety and embarressment and something had to be done. Once the Ulster province had been calmed by the Government of Ireland Act in 1920, the Lloyd George turned to its Nationalist neighbour. A Sinn Fein delegation, including Michael Collins and Arthur Grifith was sent to Westminster to negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It is important to note that President DeValera was not present. It is very possible that he knew there would have to be some comprimise made and he didn’t want to make it. After heated discusions and debates the delegation w...
There were many things that led to the aggravation and frustration of the Irish Fenians. Making them to rebel and start new movements to conquer their goal of British independence. Many of the Irish people gather into big groups and fought together. Two of the most important leaders that worked and searched for Irish independence were Mitchel and William Smith O'Brien.
We can see that poor organisation was overall very important in bringing about the failure of the 1916 Easter Rising amongst other factors. The failure of the Aud to land arms was also critical in bringing about the Rising’s failure however it has to be considered whether the Rising actually had a chance of defeating the might of the British Empire in the first place. There is evidence to suggest that the rebel leaders intended to die as martyrs however it is clear that this intention was not shared amongst them all and was mainly emphasised by Pearce himself. Furthermore, it can be seen that perhaps the Rising was a strategic victory in terms of the support it brought to the republican movement although the extents of this falls in to doubt when looking conscription. Such a view is furthered by historian Richard English who believes that, “the executions helped to achieve what the rebellion itself had not- an intensification of nationalist feeling... they produced sympathy for that rebel cause which they were supposed to undermine” .
Religion in James Joyce's Dubliners Religion was an integral part of Ireland during the modernist period, tightly woven into the social fabric of its citizens. The Catholic Church was a longstanding tradition of Ireland. In the modernist spirit of breaking away from forces that inhibited growth, the church stood as one of the principal barriers. This is because the Catholic faith acted as the governing force of its people, as portrayed in James Joyce’s Dubliners. In a period when Ireland was trying to legitimize their political system, religious affiliations further disillusioned the political process. The governing body of a people needs to provide a behavioral framework, through its constitution, and a legal process to make delegations on issues of equity and fairness. When religion dominates the government that is in tact, it subjects its citizens to their religious doctrines. In terms of Catholicism in Ireland, this meant that social progress and cultural revolutions were in terms of what the church would allow. The modernist realized that this is what paralyzed the Irish society of the times. In the stories of Dubliners the legal system is replaced by the institute of religion, and it is the presence and social context of the Catholic Church which prevents the Irish community from advancement. ...
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).