The Period of Irish history I will cover here is enormously complex and still bitterly debated. Various political factions vied for power during this time and several groups represented each faction. For the purpose of this paper I will not attempt to name every organization but shall name only the largest; hereafter I will refer to the Irish factions collectively as the Irish Republican Army (IRA); and their opposing factions collectively as the British. My goal in not to take a side in this paper, I believe that the British grossly mishandled Ireland during this time, but I also think that what the IRA did during the same period and for nearly a hundred years afterward amounted to terrorism. I merely seek to tell a story that many Americans don’t know about. I will present the facts and leave it to you to decide whether either side was right.
On the morning of April 24, 1916, about 1,200 Irishmen rose up and seized about a dozen buildings in downtown Dublin. The leaders of the revolt then released a pamphlet announcing, “We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible.” Further it announced that the uprising was the work of groups called the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Irish Volunteers, and several smaller organizations wanting total independence from Britain.
Britain had taken official control of Ireland in 1801 with the Act of Union. British families had then taken large tracts of Irish land for themselves by simply throwing out the previous owners. By the turn of the twentieth century, British troops were stationed throughout the country as a result of long simmering unrest and several revolts. Many Irish people complained that they were being treated as second class citizens and that the British were extremely cruel, often beating and arresting people. Other Irish families tried to get along as best they could. While there is evidence that British troops could treat people badly, whether this was the result of British policy or simply men whose position had gone to their heads is unclear.
In London, Parliament had attempted to pass “home rule bills” which would allow Ireland to run day to day operations of the country but would leave control under in the British Empire. However, these bills were defeated in 1886, 1893, and 1912. By 1913 many Irish believed they would never get independence. British leaders again promised home rule was coming, but then in August 1914, the British entered World War I, stopping all talk of political reform. Many Irishman put aside their prejudice of the British and fought alongside them. In all, over 200,000 Irish men would fight in the war and 30,000 would die. Yet even in battle, the British would not allow them to carry Irish flags.
Back in Ireland during that same year, a small group of men saw a chance for Ireland to finally throw off the yoke of British rule. Among those men were Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Robert Erskine Childers. At the outbreak of war, Childers had managed to slip into Hamburg, Germany in a small sailboat, collect nine hundred rifles and successfully dock in Dublin. Another Irishman, Roger Casement, had gone so far as to offer to foment a rebellion in Ireland with the help of a German invasion. German official Arthur Zimmerman agreed, but was later overruled by superiors. A boated loaded with 20,000 guns was dispatched from Germany but was caught by a British patrol and sunk in early April, 1916. Casement, among those on the boat, escaped at first, but was captured within days. He was later tried for his role in the uprising and hung in August, 1916. Despite this setback, Pearse and Connolly went ahead with the uprising, using the guns Childers had delivered.
The revolt took the few British solders in the area completely by surprise and several were killed on that first day of April 24, 1916. The following day, more British troops were brought in, along with heavy artillery which began bombarding rebel positions. Several civilian buildings were also heavily damaged. Slowly, with casualties mounting, the remaining rebels fell back to the large General Post Office building which had been set up as their headquarters. With Pearse and Connolly was 25 year old Michael Collins, who had spent the entire uprising sitting in the attic of the post office guarding prisoners taken during the initial hours. Also present was 33 year old Éamon De Valera, who according to accounts had seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help to the rebels as he gave confusing orders and, some said, suffered a nervous breakdown.
The Irish leaders had hoped the revolt would spread to the countryside. However, when people heard that only a few buildings had been taken and that more British troops were arriving, those who had assembled elsewhere went home. With the British lobbing shells at point blank range, huge chunks began falling from outer walls of the General Post Office building and fires started inside. Finally, on April 29, a badly wounded Connolly ordered the men to lay down their arms. Dublin residents were shocked by the violence and angered by the destruction. Many viewed the men as traitors. While they were being taken out of the ruined building, local Dubliners shouted curses and bombarded them with spoiled food.
British justice was swift and brutal. 3,430 men and 79 women were arrested for their roles in the uprising. In a short court marshal on May 2, 90 men were sentenced to death, though only fifteen sentences were carried out. Pearse, seen as the main leader, went first. Several days later, Connolly, who lay in the hospital, was yanked out of bed, tied to a chair and shot. Joseph Plunkett, a founding member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, was also sentenced to death. While he awaited execution, his longtime girlfriend marched into the prison in a wedding dress and demanded they be married. A short ceremony was quickly conducted and he was shot within hours.
Many historians now believe that here the British made two critical mistakes. First, among the fifteen executed men were several who adamantly claimed they either did not know the uprising was going to take place, or had only very minor roles in it. The speed and manner of the executions shocked many of the Irish who had initially supported the British, and it seemed to verify claims of British brutality. Second, the British allowed some of the men to get off with light sentences. Among these men were De Valera and Collins. De Valera had initially been sentenced to death, but his execution was delayed several times, and he happened to have been born in America. The United States was still on the fence as to whether they would join the war with the allies, and the British did not want to antagonize them. Ultimately, De Valera escaped. Collins too, had initially been selected to either be executed or given life in prison, but as he stood with the condemned group, he thought he heard his name called. In front of everyone, he walked across the room and joined the other group facing less punishment. He was released a year later in June, 1917. De Valera, Collins and some of their fellow prisoners would go on to found a new organization and write new plans on how to deal with the British.
