Easter Uprising Day 1916

Throughout the centuries of British domination of Ireland, the Irish liberation movement was built on a basic principle: the agony of Britain is a chance for Ireland. With Britain’s entry into World War I, a split began in the IRB. Some thought the time was right for a new showdown: the empire had long been mired in the worst war in human history, millions had already died, millions had yet to die in the bloodbath, the economic situation was deteriorating rapidly and confidence in the government was rapidly declining, and new recruiting kits were passing through Ireland one after another, far from adding popularity to the authorities. For others, on the contrary, the country was not ready for rebellion, too many Irish went to fight in France, and it would be a kind of betrayal to them.

Among the opponents of the uprising was Owen McNeill, the head of staff of the Irish Volunteers. His main argument was the lack of weapons in the hands of potential freedom fighters. He believed that as long as Britain did not try to forcibly disarm them or, conversely, to involve them in military operations on the continent, it was not advisable for the Irish Volunteers to engage in open confrontation. Eventually, Pierce and other Volunteer leaders, along with Connolly and his Irish Civil Army, decided to raise a rebellion on Sunday 23 April, under cover of the long-planned ID maneuvers. McNeill was not involved in their plans. He was notified until Thursday, and at first he agreed, influenced by the uplifting news of the arrival of arms transports from Germany for the rebels. But when the good news was followed by the disheartening news of the arrest of Sir Keysment and the loss of all his precious cargo, McNeill, by order, cancelled the maneuvers and, in an address to the Volunteers of the whole country, declared that there would be no revolt.

Despite McNeill’s order, the Military Council decided not to abandon the uprising, the only concession was to postpone the date of the intervention to Monday, April 24. A declaration proclaiming the establishment of the Irish Republic was prepared. The honor of being the first to sign the historic document was given to Thomas Clark, 59 (15 of those 59 he spent in British prisons). Clark put his signature with tears of happiness in his eyes, after him, Sean McDermot, Thomas McDonagh, P.G. Pierce, Eamonn Kent, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett took turns for the pen. In this situation, each of the signatories of the Declaration simply could not but understand that in fact he is signing a death sentence.

Only about 1,500 people showed up at Liberty Hall on the appointed day. Volunteers, but even they were not properly armed.

After leaving Liberty Hall, the rebels broke into detachments and moved to pre-planned targets to be captured.

Pierce and Connolly, fully aware of what a hopeless business they were up to, marched along Dublin’s central street (Sackville Street for loyal citizens, O’Connell Street for true patriots), reached the Post Office (GPO) and barricaded themselves there. They were then sent to Liberty Hall to pick up the flag; after a while the package was delivered. In brown paper was wrapped a green flag with a golden harp and the golden words “Irish Republic” and another, three-colored, green-white-orange. They were both hovering over the Post Office as Pierce read the Declaration at 12:04 to a confused crowd of onlookers gathered in the square in front of the building:

“Irish and Irish women!”
In the name of the Lord and the departed generations.

As Pierce finished, a beaming Connolly grabbed his arm and began to shake vigorously. The crowd responded with sluggish applause and erratic greetings, and Pierce’s statement on behalf of the Provisional Government of the newly-created Republic was met with little enthusiasm. No shouts of hurrah, nothing resembling the excitement that gripped the crowd in France before the storming of the Bastille. The Irish gathered on the weekend before the Post Office, just listened, bewilderedly shrugged, laughed, looked around waiting for the police. The young men handed out copies of the Declaration to all, and placed one at the foot of Nelson’s Column. Gradually, the onlookers began to wander, someone came closer to Nelson, someone’s attention was attracted by unusual flags on the roof of the Post Office (green on the left, over the corner of Princes Street, tricolor on the right, over the corner of Henry Street), someone was bored with all this action, they just turned and wandered about their business ...

A detachment of the British military, which appeared after a while on Sackville Street and tried to nip the mutiny in the bud, was thrown back by insurgent fire.

One group of rebels attacked Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park, the other, of the Civil Army, unopposed, entered Dublin Castle. But instead of occupying this strategic point and symbol of British rule, the fighters left the castle as unprotected as it was before their arrival, but took over a nearby confectionery factory. What made them do this, perhaps the absence of any serious resistance and the ease with which they managed to penetrate the stronghold, they regarded as a trap.

Another detachment of the Civil Army under the leadership of Michael Mullin and a group of women and boy scouts from the Warriors of Ireland under the command of the Countess Markiewicz occupied St. Stephens Green and the College of Surgeons. The beds, flower beds, fountains - all this sharply contrasted with what was happening... In order not to attract attention, the rebels entered the park in small groups of two or three people through eight different entrances. After the walking public was removed from the park, the soldiers of the Civil Army were engaged in digging trenches, and the detachment of Countess Markevich organized a medical center for the wounded (which were expected in large numbers). To reinforce the park's defenses, Mullin placed several shooters in nearby buildings, a very commendable foresight, if not for one thing: for unknown reasons, he ignored the Shelburne Hotel, a kind of dominating height on the north side of St Stephen's Green. What the rebels did not occupy on the first day of the uprising, the British did on the second day. A hundred gunmen were stationed in the building and began to target the rebels in the park. After a three-hour fight, Michael Mullin gave the order to retreat to the College of Surgery.

Edward Dale's men, under the command of Lieutenant Joseph McGuinness, captured the Four Courts, the citadel of Irish law and justice. Twenty rebels approached the entrance from Chansery Place, demanded the policeman’s keys and took control of the building. They held him for six days and then managed to escape.

And five understaffed units under the command of Aimon De Valera took control of Boland's Mills, from where the streets leading from the port to the southern part of the city were well shot.

Very soon the predictions of the opponents of the uprising began to be justified. The authorities came to their senses after the shock caused by the rebels and tried to bring the situation under control. The rebels were to be confronted by the Royal Irish Police and the regular British Army. The setbacks with Dublin Castle and Trinity College made the rebels’ situation much more difficult, limiting their ability to interact and communicate with each other, and losing much-needed urban mobility. The lack of support for the Dublin uprising in other parts of the country led to the fact that in a matter of hours a powerful reinforcement was drawn to Dublin, and if the ratio of forces on Monday was approximately 3:1, then by Wednesday - 10:1, of course, not in favor of the rebels. Twenty thousand British soldiers took the city into the ring. Nevertheless, both the police and the army met with an unexpected and fierce resistance. The freedom fighters fought with true Irish resolve and courage: on Wednesday, on Mount Street Bridge, De Valera, with twelve fighters, repulsed attacks by two battalions of the British army for nine hours.

On April 28, the British fired artillery. On Liffey, the Helga gunboat rose, field guns were located on the territory of Trinity College. The main target of the army command was the Post Office, none of the other fortifications of the rebels was attacked and bombarded with such power. As a result of the shelling, the entire neighborhood of Sackville Street adjacent to the Post Office was destroyed, and a fire began in the building itself.

On Saturday, April 29, the leaders of the uprising with the surviving fighters left the fire-stricken Post Office and took up positions on Moore Street. Entire areas of the city were in ruins, civilian casualties were rising, and the rebels besieged in buildings scattered across Dublin were experiencing shortages of food and ammunition. Even the staunchest (or stubborn) understood that there was nothing to hope for, the daredevils (or madmen) who defied the empire were doomed from the beginning. Stepping on Easter Monday outside the door of Liberty Hall, they took a step towards defeat, and it did not take long to wait, only to meet him with dignity. Patrick Pierce made the difficult decision to surrender and sent his order to all the surviving troops.

On Sunday, April 30, the last of the rebels laid down their arms, at five o’clock the flags of the rebels were dropped from the roof of the Post Office, and with them the dream of freedom.

(c) Eoghain MacRua