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Emma Pearson

Dr. Rauterkus

H. World History

March 27, 2015

The 1916 Easter Uprising that took place in Dublin, Ireland stemmed from

feelings of anger towards the British. Ireland was a colony of Britain and some groups

of Irish people felt it was in the interest of the whole country to fight for their freedom.

The Irish Volunteers, Irish Republican Brotherhood, and The Irish Citizen Army all

played crucial roles in this uprising. From the beginning to the end, the Irish freedom

fighters put all of their efforts and resources into the Easter Uprising against Britain.

The circumstances that led up to the uprising effected the outcome and planning

for the event. The Home Rule Act, which was the agreement that Irish Parliament could

rule from Ireland instead of Westminster, the World War I casualties and deaths of Great

Britain were increasing, and the British threatening to draft Irish men into war all

contributed to the desire for independence. As a result, Irish nationalists and patriots

saw this as an ideal opportunity to rebel against British rule in that chaotic time. Shortly

after World War 1 began, Home Rule was passed into law in 1914 as an Amending Bill

in hopes of gaining Irish allegiance to help Britain win the war. Most of Ireland saw this

as a sell out and continued to oppose any and all British rule. Though, some thought it

was an opportunity to show loyalty to Britain. Clarke, MacDermott, Pearse, and

Connolly, who were leaders of the uprising, felt that this time was perfect for "blood

sacrifice" in Ireland. The main group of those who wanted to be independent were in

the exclusive group called the Irish Volunteers, who had broken away from the larger
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group of National Volunteers. The 13,000 Irish Volunteers believed it was their

responsibility to the country and that they were being called to fight for Ireland's freedom

from Britain. They also thought that they were representing the desires of the whole

nation, which was not the case.

The secret group of the Military Council of the IRB strategically planned the

events and locations of the uprising. They went to all the work to keep it secret and to

thoroughly organized everything in order to have the highest possible chance of

succeeding in their efforts. Following the death of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, the

Volunteers began to gain the support of more Irish people. Rossa was a patriot that had

difficult times in British jails because of his campaigns against British rule. The

Volunteers used his funeral as a time to spread propaganda and organize the uprising.

Pearse, one of the seven leaders of the uprising, spoke to the Irish people and said that

Rossa's death was Britain's fault and they needed to rebel for his sake. At this event, it

became clear that the Volunteers and a majority of the IRB could work well together,

which would lead to the collaboration of the two groups in the uprising. The British

knew of their plans and made no effort to put it to an end. In their eyes, the freedom

fighters were not be taken seriously and they were treated as a joke. The British knew

that the fight for freedom was not what all Irish people wanted, so they did not think that

the Volunteers would have any chance of defeating them. The British were still allowed

by commanding officers to be visible in Dublin and march the streets so that the Irish

people would know that they were paying attention. After many meetings, it was

decided that the freedom fighters would take over key places in Dublin for army

barracks, railway stations, and supply areas. They agreed to have troops at the Four
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Courts, the South Dublin Union, Boland's Mill, Jacob's biscuit factory, Stephen's Green

and to use the General Post Office as the headquarters for the operation. The uprising

was scheduled to begin on April 24, 1916, which was also Easter Sunday, giving the

rebellion its name. The Volunteers made an alliance with Germany, who was at war

with Britain at the time, in order to receive resources from them. Sir Roger Casement

was a former British man that agreed to help with this alliance. As a result, Germany

agreed to send Ireland 20,000 rifles that would be vital to the effort. On Good Friday

1916, the arms arrived on the docks of Ireland, but the British soldiers confiscated them.

This led to the delay of the uprising until the next day, Monday, at noon. Still, the seven

leaders were insistent that it would go on, regardless of the doubts many people had.

At this point, the British realized that they needed to take the rebels more seriously, but

still doubted their chances of success.

On Easter Monday, the uprising began and regardless of the many delays, the

Volunteers were determined to go through with their plans. Unfortunately, only 1,000

people came, which was significantly less than they had planned for. The next day 800

more Irish freedom fighters joined them. The British had 1,600 more soldiers come on

Monday and continued to send more people. They continued to dismiss the rebels and

although they began to take them seriously, they never believed that the freedom

fighters would succeed in their efforts. They decided to put the whole operation to an

end on Holy Thursday by disarming the freedom fighters and arresting the leaders.

Regardless of the confusion on Monday, the Volunteers and Citizen Army went to their

designated posts. The public were surprised and unsure what was going on. Everyone

flooded to the G.P.O. in order to figure out what was happening. Pearse saw this as a
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perfect opportunity to read the Irish Proclamation to the public. It declared

independence from all other nations, especially Britain, commanded the allegiance and

help of all Irish people, and that the seven leaders wanted happiness and prosperity for

everyone. Tom, Clarke, Sean MacDermott, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh,

Joseph Plunkett, James Connolly, and Eamon Ceannt, the seven leaders of the

uprising, were all present at the reading of the Proclamation. Here, they told the public

the reasons behind the uprising and tried to convince them to join the fight for freedom.

They also introduced the Irish Republic that would be used as the new method of

leadership that would be put into effect after driving out the British. Most of the Dublin

public were furious that the Volunteers and Citizen Army took it upon themselves to

represent the country without consulting everyone. These people supported the British

and proceeded to wave Union Jacks at the Portobello Barracks after setting it afire.

Most of the bloodshed took place on Wednesday after more British soldiers arrived.

They started at the edges of Dublin and continued to move towards the center of town.

By Saturday that same week, the headquarters of the uprising was destroyed, Pearse

had surrendered to the British, 450 people were killed and 2,000 were wounded. When

the freedom fighters heard of Pearse's surrender and imprisonment, they knew that the

fight was over and they would not have victory over the British. 16 rebel leaders were

executed, 3,000 rebels were arrested are 1,400 people were imprisoned for their

participation in the uprising. The Irish public referred to the whole uprising as the Sinn

Fein Rebellion, even though the Sinn Fein Movement took place before the uprising and

was not at all related. The seven leaders were so secretive that no one really knew the

causes of the uprising or who the leaders were until many years later.
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Even though the rebels were unsuccessful in their attempts at independence,

they were able to increase patriotism in their country and use it productively. They put

all of their efforts into the uprising, regardless of the problems along the way.
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Works Cited

Dorney, John. The Easter Rising- A brief overview. theirishstory.com. 22 April, 2011.

Web. 25 February, 2015.

Hegarty, Shane, and Fintan O'Toole. The Irish Times Book of the 1916 Rising. Dublin:

Gill & Macmillan, 2006. Print.

Kee, Robert. Ireland, a History. Boston: Little, Brown, 1982. Print.

Pearse, Padraic. The Easter Proclamation of the Irish Republic, 1916. Dublin: Dolmen

Press, 1975. Print.