Easter Monday Irish Rebellion begins - Irish History

Sceala Philosopher

Ireland 1916 events
April 24th 1916 : Easter Rebellion begins
On this day in 1916, on Easter Monday in Dublin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret organization of Irish nationalists led by Patrick Pearse, launches the so-called Easter Rebellion, an armed uprising against British rule. Assisted by militant Irish socialists under James Connolly, Pearse and his fellow Republicans rioted and attacked British provincial government headquarters across Dublin and seized the Irish capital's General Post Office. Following these successes, they proclaimed the independence of Ireland, which had been under the repressive thumb of the United Kingdom for centuries, and by the next morning were in control of much of the city. Later that day, however, British authorities launched a counteroffensive, and by April 29 the uprising had been crushed. Nevertheless, the Easter Rebellion is considered a significant marker on the road to establishing an independent Irish republic.

Following the uprising, Pearse and 14 other nationalist leaders were executed for their participation and held up as martyrs by many in Ireland. There was little love lost among most Irish people for the British, who had enacted a series of harsh anti-Catholic restrictions, the Penal Laws, in the 18th century, and then let 1.5 million Irish starve during the Potato Famine of 1845-1848. Armed protest continued after the Easter Rebellion and in 1921, 26 of Ireland's 32 counties won independence with the declaration of the Irish Free State. The Free State became an independent republic in 1949. However, six northeastern counties of the Emerald Isle remained part of the United Kingdom, prompting some nationalists to reorganize themselves into the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to continue their struggle for full Irish independence.

In the late 1960s, influenced in part by the U.S. civil rights movement, Catholics in the north of Ireland, long discriminated against by British policies that favored Irish Protestants, advocated for justice. Civil unrest broke out between Catholics and Protestants in the region and the violence escalated as the pro-Catholic IRA battled British troops. An ongoing series of terrorist bombings and attacks ensued in a drawn-out conflict that came to be known as "The Troubles." Peace talks eventually took place throughout the mid- to late 1990s, but a permanent end to the violence remained elusive. Finally, in July 2005, the IRA announced its members would give up all their weapons and pursue the group's objectives solely through peaceful means. By the fall of 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission reported that the IRA's military campaign to end British rule was over. From History.com

Easter Monday 1916
Early on Monday morning, April 24, 1916, roughly 1,200 Volunteers and Citizen Army members took over strongpoints in Dublin city centre. A joint force of about 400 Volunteers and Citizen Army gathered at Liberty Hall under the command of Commandant James Connolly.

The rebel headquarters was located at the General Post Office (GPO) where James Connolly, overall military commander and four other members of the Military Council: Patrick Pearse, Tom Clarke, Sean Mac Dermott and Joseph Plunkett were located.After occupying the Post Office, the Volunteers hoisted two republican flags and Pearse read a Proclamation of the Republic.

Elsewhere, rebel forces took up positions at the Four Courts, the centre of the Irish legal establishment, at Jacob's Biscuit Factory and Boland's Mill and at the hospital complex at South Dublin Union and the adjoining Distillery at Marrowbone Lane. Another contingent, under Michal Mallin, dug in on St. Stephen's Green.

However, although it was lightly guarded, Volunteer and Citizen Army forces under Seán Connolly failed to take Dublin Castle, the centre of British rule in Ireland, shooting dead a police sentry and overpowering the soldiers in the guardroom, but failing to press home the attack. The Under-secretary, Sir Matthew Nathan, was alerted by the shots and helped close the castle gates. The rebels occupied the Dublin City Hall and adjacent buildings. They also failed to take Trinity College, which was located in the heart of the city centre and which was defended by only a handful of armed, unionist students. At midday a small team of Volunteers and Fianna members attacked the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park and disarmed the guards, with the intent to seize weapons and blow up the building as a signal that the rising had begun. They set explosives but failed to obtain any arms.

In at least two incidents, at Jacobs and Stephens Green, the Volunteers and Citizen Army shot dead attackers who were trying to dismantle their barricades. Elsewhere, they hit civilians with their rifle butts to drive them off.

The British military were caught totally unprepared by the rebellion and their response of the first day was generally un-coordinated. Two troops of British cavalry, one at the Four Courts, the other on O'Connell Street, sent out to investigate what was happening, took fire and casualites from rebel forces On Mount Street, a group of reserve volunteer soldiers, stumbled upon the rebel position and four were killed before they reached Beggars Bush barracks.

The only substantial combat of the first day of the Rising took place at the South Dublin Union where a piquet from the Royal Irish Regiment, encountered an outpost of Éamonn Ceannt's force at the north-western corner of the South Dublin Union. The British troops, after taking some casualties, managed to regroup and launch several assaults on the position before they forced their way inside and the small rebel force in the tin huts at the eastern end of the Union surrendered. However, the Union complex as a whole remained in rebel hands.

Three of the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police were shot dead on the first day of the Rising and their Commissioner pulled them off the streets. Partly as result of the withdrawal of the police, a wave of looting broke out in the city centre, especially in the O'Connell Street area. A total of 425 people were arrested after the Rising for looting.

Enda kenny was born on the very day, He does look well for 60. Still would not trust him 60 cms.

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Enda Kenny speaks about the upcoming British Royal visit to Ireland as crowds gather to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Easter Rising at the GPO in Dublin.

He adds the suffix United States for the President Obama.
Why does he call her the Queen, she is not the Queen, she is the English Queen. Kenny shows a disrespect to the Queen of Norway and the Queen of Netherlands among others and Limerick. Slip of tongue by Kenny or does he actually consider her the Queen of the world.
Grow up Kenny, stop making Ireland look as though we accept the English myths.
1916 Rebels would be ashamed of his message.

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