The Irish Easter Rebellion 1916 Essay -- essays research papers fc

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 workerâ€⠄¢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 ... ...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]