A difficult choice for nationalists…

OR

A difficult choice… Unionists had no problem volunteering to fight in World War 1

Nationalists had a difficult choice to make….

If Nationalists joined the British Army maybe Britain would be impressed and grant Home Rule to Ireland… or maybe not?

Or should we fight against Britain and suffer the consequences?

John Redmond felt Nationalists should fight in the British Army

Eoin MacNeill and others believed that Nationalists shouldn’t fight for the freedom of other countries until their own was free – these people were known as “Sinn Fein Volunteers”

“England’s difficulty is Ireland’s Opportunity”

Some in the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) felt that the outbreak of World War One gave Ireland an opportunity

Patrick Pearse was one person who felt that Ireland had a good chance of winning a war with England

Pearse was a fan of the Irish language and of Irish Culture – he set up a Gaelscoil (St. Enda’s) in Rathfarnham and was involved with the Gaelic League

Ended up becoming a “PR man” for the Rebels

St. Enda’s (Pearse’s School) today

James Connolly Joins…. Connolly was a socialist – normally socialists had little to do

with Nationalists

However Connolly agreed to join the plans for the Rising because he believed the World War One was going to end up hurting the poor most

Also hoped that an Irish Republic would be fairer than Ireland under British Control

Fooling MacNeill Eoin MacNeill (Irish Volunteers Leader) was reluctant to fight

but Pearse and the other militants convinced him that the British were about to arrest all the volunteers

When O’Neill heard this, he ordered the volunteers to be ready to fight on Easter Sunday, 1916

Weapons smuggling The volunteers had not enough arms to have a successful uprising

and hoped to smuggle some in from Germany

A ship, the Aud was supposed to smuggle in weapons to Kerry but was intercepted by the British Navy

When Eoin MacNeill (Volunteer leader) saw this, he knew the Rising had no chance of success and ordered a stop

This messed up the plans of Pearse, Connolly and the other militants but they decided to go ahead with the Rising on Easter Monday, 1916

The Rebels hoped to inspire the Public and to set an example to future generations – Pearse called this “Blood Sacrifice”

Fighting Breaks out… The Rebels marched out on Easter Monday morning and took

over many buildings in Dublin.

Patrick Pearse stood outside the GPO and read out the Proclamation of the Irish Republic which set out what the rebels wanted to achieve

British were taken by surprise but had overwhelming firepower and the outcome was never in doubt

Dublin City Centre badly damaged by the fighting (mostly by British Artillery, Rebels had only rifles)

The “Proclaimation of the Republic” – read out by Pearseto Dubliners at the start of the Rising

The GPO – easily taken over

Dublin Castle – untouched

Inside the GPO – can you spot Pearse and Connolly?

Inside the GPO – can you spot Pearse and Connolly?

Dublin bombarded – The Helga

The British used gunboats and artillery – the Rebels had none of these and were outnumbered

2012 Junior Cert

Response The British felt betrayed by the Rising – as they were fighting

the Germans the Irish had joined up to also attack them

It was decided to execute all the ringleaders of the Rising in order to discourage any further attempts at rebellion

The ordinary people of Dublin were NOT happy with the rising – the city was in ruins and many ordinary people had been killed in the fighting

Rising had ended in complete military failure

But the story was not over yet…

Aftermath – a wrecked city.

Aftermath The British decision to execute all the Rebel leaders proved

to be a serious mistake

Instead of frightening off the remaining rebels, all that happened was that sympathy for the rebels increased

Surviving rebels included Eamon DeValera and Michael Collins, who would go on to play a major role in the next stage of the campaign

Bullet holes from 1916 Easter Rising today