Causes, Progress, Effects

Causes The Irish Republican Brotherhood had been planning constantly to achieve a republic by violent political means. Despite the fact that the British government had passed the Home Rule Bill, giving limited self- government to Ireland, the Bill had been suspended for he duration of World War I, which led to great dissatisfaction in Ireland. The cultural nationalism of the early 20 th century had led to a generation of young Irish people who wanted freedom from Britain.

Nationalists and Unionists The Unionists, under Sir Edward Carson (top) pledged to fight against Home Rule, no matter what happened. They had big support from the British upper classes and the British Army. Mainstream Nationalists, who followed the lead of the Irish Parliamentary Party under John Redmond (bottom) were not happy that Home Rule had been suspended, but thought that the best way to achieve Home Rule was by supporting the British war effort. Thousands of Irishmen fought for the British in World War I for this reason.

Radical Nationalists The majority of the Irish Volunteers (about 100,000 men) sided with John Redmond, and formed the National Volunteers. Many of these men joined the British army, believing that by proving their loyalty to Britain in time of war, they would achieve Home Rule for their country A minority of the Volunteers (about 20,000 men) under Professor Eoin McNeill (top) disagreed with Redmond. They thought that they should stay at home and fight for Home Rule. Unknown to McNeill, many vital Volunteer positions were controlled by the secret Irish Republican Brotherhood under Thomas Clarke (bottom).

Other Factors Cultural nationalism, led by the GAA and Conradh na Gaeilge, meant that many young Irish men and women wanted freedom from Britain. Sinn Féin, a party founded by journalist Arthur Griffith in 1905, said that Ireland should seek complete economic independence from Britain (i.e. we should make and buy our own produce, rather than importing things from Britain).

Planning the Rising A group of secret IRB men within the Volunteers, led by Clarke and school teacher Pádraig Pearse, decided that the only solution was a military rebellion. Sir Roger Casement, who had worked for the British Foreign Office, went to Germany (then fighting Britain in World War I) to buy guns. A Military Council was established, consisting of Pearse, Clarke, Thomas McDonagh, Joseph Plunkett, Eamon Ceannt, Sean MacDiarmada and the Scottish-Irish communist revolutionary James Connolly. Connolly was angry at the way that Irish workers were being treated, and said that he would lead his tiny Irish Citizen Army into rebellion if the IRB didn’t join him. This forced the rest of the leaders to act.

Preparation for the Rising Casement got guns from Germany, which were delivered by the yacht Asgard owned by the Protestant revolutionary Erskine Childers Although McNeill did not want a rebellion, Pearse and the others showed him a forged letter saying that the British authorities had ordered the arrest of the Volunteer leaders. McNeill ordered a rebellion for Easter Sunday, 1916.

The Beginning of the Rebellion McNeill found out about the forgery and cancelled the Rebellion. The Military Council, now calling themselves the Provisional Government of Ireland went ahead with the rebellion on Easter Monday They occupied many positions in Dublin, and their headquarters was the General Post Office (GPO)

The Rebellion The Rebellion lasted for about 7 days, and the rebels, despite being massively outnumbered, held the British army at bay. Pearse read the Proclamation of the Republic in front of the GPO on Easter Monday, It is still regarded as the founding document of the State.

The End After a week’s fighting, it was obvious that the rebels’ position was hopeless. The British were too well armed and the people of Ireland were not supporting the Rising. Pearse surrendered unconditionally to spare innocent lives.

Aftermath The Rebellion was not popular in Ireland. The rebels were insulted, booed and attacked with rubbish by the women of Dublin. The women were afraid that their husbands, who were fighting with the British army, would lose pay and benefits because of the Rising.The leaders were imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail and tried by military court-martial.

Executions The British military commander in Ireland was General Sir John Maxwell. He was ordered to make an example of the rebels by executing their leaders. Over the next 2 weeks, 15 leaders, including all the signatories of the Proclamation, were shot. People began to change their minds about the Rising, particularly as James Connolly, who was badly wounded, was shot in a chair and Willie Pearse, who was not a leader, was shot just because he was Padraig’s brother. Maxwell (later called Butcher) really hated his orders, but had to obey them.

Effects of the Rising The brutal executions achieved the opposite of what the British hoped to achieve. The Irish people, who had been against the rebellion, were now full of sympathy. In the 1918 genera election, Sinn Féin, who the British wrongly blamed for the Rebellion (which was led by the IRB) won the vast majority (73) of the 100 Irish parliamentary seats. Rather than go to London, they formed their own parliament, Dáil Éireann. New leaders such as Eamon De Valera, an American citizen who was a 1916 commander, and Michael Collins, who was Pearse’s assistant in the GPO, now led the struggle for freedom.