The Easter Rising of 1916

The history of Ireland is not for the faint of heart, the island has a past that is so tragic and depressing, few nation states can compare. From Oliver Cromwell’s brutal subjugation, numerous English invasions, to genocidal famine, Ireland has been the subject, or target, of almost any historical category of catastrophe that can be applied. However harsh its history though, the Irish spirit has never diminished and tales of resistance and hope can be found peppered between the tragedy and repression. While not a tale of hope, the Easter Rising of 1916 is one of resistance against the English 700-year occupation. Although the uprising itself failed, it can be argued that it convinced the powers in London that it was time to sunset its domination over the Emerald Isle. No longer able to see the benefits of control in the aftermath of the uprising, London eventually agreed to relinquishment of a majority of the Island to the “Irish Free State” in 1922, finally granting Ireland its independence (after a war of independence). This article will detail the failed 1916 uprising, its aftermath, and how it fits into the broader struggle of Irish independence.

To understand the uprising of 1916, one must also understand that this was far from the first uprising against English dominance, nor was it surprising to those who were aware of the feelings in Dublin at the time. Three rebellions in just the 19th century proceeded the 1916 event, also all failures. But with each rebellion, England was reminded of the cost it had to pay in order to maintain its hegemony over the island. What made the 1916 action different was that it arrived at a time of a global war, a war that England was a leading participant in, tying up British resources and manpower away from its dominions both close to home and remote. The British Empire’s armies, made up of subjects and citizens from its domestic and colonial possessions – including Ireland, were suffering tremendous casualties in the First World War, stoking factions that advocated for independence from Britain in Ireland and in other colonial nations. The longer that Britain fought in WWI, the more Irish independence and republican factions used the mounting casualties to advocate separation from their colonial overlords, calling attention to the irony of Irish men dying for a British government that actively repressed their homeland. These factions, seeking to use the distraction of WWI to their advantage, made the bold step of asking Britain’s enemy in the war, the German Empire, for its help.

The planning for the rebellion began in 1915, principally led by a teacher and lawyer named Patrick Pearse, and a lifelong Irish revolutionary named Thomas J. Clarke. While far from the only leaders, Pearse and Clarke are the most commonly known names associated to the event but other leaders include James Connolly, Eamon de Valera (future president of Ireland), Seán Mac Diarmada, Eamonn Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett – amongst others. Most of the men involved in the uprising were from the Irish Volunteers, essentially a precursor to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) - a more radical group within the Irish Volunteers, and The Irish Citizen Army. The Rising of 1916 also saw the involvement of a radical republican political party and group called Sinn Féin, which would go on to be a household name in British and Irish 20th century history. The IRB advocated for full independence of the entire island of Ireland and aimed to achieve it through armed means while the Irish Volunteers were more focused on only resorting to violence if the situation called for it, like a full conscription movement by the British of Irish men to bolster their ranks in WWI.

The IRB had begun secret talks with the German Imperial government in as early as 1914 to determine German appetite towards support of the Irish cause, and successfully convinced the Germans to declare their support behind Irish Independence. The IRB drafted plans to recruit Irish POWs from the British ranks being held by the Germans into a unit, calling it the “Irish Brigade.” This brigade was to launch an assault of liberation on Ireland, supported by a German “expeditionary force” (GEF) to take Dublin, with IRB and the Volunteers rising up from within the island. Of course this Irish Brigade, nor a German expeditionary force, ever materialized or came to fruition but the Germans did agree to supply arms and ammunition to the IRB and the Volunteers. Additional support was courted from groups of American sympathizers, Irish expats, and descendants of Irish immigrants, securing about $100,000 from one of these groups. With the promise of arms and ammo from Germany, the amassing of Irish domestic arms and ammo, and monetary support from American sympathizers, by early 1916 it was decided that a rebellion would be launched on Easter Sunday that same year.

Patrick Pearse, as one of the principal leaders of the Irish Volunteers and IRB council member, declared that three days of parading (after a period of increased training) would begin on Easter Sunday. Those IRB members within the Volunteers aware of the plans knew this meant the rebellion would begin, while those without knowledge of the plans would take these parading orders as no more than what they appeared to be. At the same time, in early April, a German ship disguised as a Norwegian vessel, set sail for Dublin with 20,000 rifles, over a million bullets, and a large number of explosives. One of the Irish revolutionaries that had been negotiating with the Germans since 1914, Roger Casement, was separately dispatched to Ireland aboard a German U-boat, however he had intentions of trying to delay or stop the rebellion due to the lack of an Irish Brigade or GEF.

British Intelligence had suspected an action could occur for some months, realizing that tensions were extremely high in the Irish capital. They had been able to find out about the German ship, the planned rising date, and the return of Roger Casement through radio cables between Ireland and Germany. When the German ship, the SS Libau, arrived in late April off the coast of Ireland, it was intercepted by the Royal Navy, causing the captain of the Libau to destroy or scuttle the ship, with Roger Casement captured when he landed in Ireland. With the loss of the German arms and the capture of Casement, the uprising was cancelled for the time being. After reviewing the situation further and realizing that, due to British knowledge of events, their window to act was rapidly closing, the military council within the Volunteers (made of up almost all IRB members) informed the IRB and the Volunteers again that the rebellion would move forward but now for the Monday after Easter, using the arms they had available.

When Easter Monday, April 24th, arrived, the call to muster went out to the IRB, The Irish Volunteers, and the Irish Citizen Army. 1,200 men and women responded and mustered at several locations, dressed in various uniforms and civilian attire, and armed with rifles, revolvers, some semi-automatic pistols, shotguns, and explosives. This 1,200 was less than anticipated due to the changing of orders and the short notice. The plan involved taking this force and occupy the main city center of Dublin, with groups spreading out and hitting different locations simultaneously.

A large group of about 400 Irish rebels, led by Pearse, Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, and Joseph Plunkett, targeted and occupied the General Post Office (GPO), making it their new headquarters while the rebellion unfolded. Other groups of rebels dug trenches and created defensive positions, set up check points and barricades, captured various buildings, bridges, communication, and government structures such as a telegraph station, using the station to declare that an Irish Republic has been created. A small group was able to secure the city hall of Dublin and attempted to capture Dublin Castle but were unsuccessful, killing a British solider in the process. While rebels were able to size key locations quickly, due to a lack of man power they were unable to gain full control of the city center and failed to cut off communications in its entirety, leaving the British government able to contact loyal forces within the city and elsewhere. Another failure on the rebel’s part was that they did not cut off transportation routes into and out of the city center, with rail lines and bridges remaining open.

Combat began in pockets around the seized areas, such as gun fire exchanging between the soldiers remaining in Dublin Castle and the captured buildings around it, leaving one rebel dead. Civilians also tried to resist some of the rebels, with Volunteers killing multiple civilians after they attempted to overpower barricades. But a coordinated British response was lacking, even though they were aware of planning and an imminent rebellion. It is now considered a tremendous intelligence failure that the British assumed that any real threat was delayed due to the seizing of the Libau. Due to a lack of offensive action by the British, combat was light on the first day, with isolated fighting breaking out between scattered Unionist (British or Irish loyal to the Crown) and rebel forces, killing small numbers on both sides, as well as some innocent civilians and unarmed police officers. Unionist forces didn’t push back further for the remainder of the day.

Tuesday, April 25th, saw British forces in the area starting to take offensive action to retake the buildings seized. Their first efforts were focused on securing the area around Dublin Castle, which they believed the rebel headquarters to be near, successfully retaking Dubin city hall in the process. However, the British were unable to advance in some areas, being pushed back by heavy rebel fire as they tried to advance from the railway station, with some British soldiers captured. The British brought in artillery and began to shell rebel positions, forcing a rebel retreat from some of the previously established barricades. On Tuesday evening, martial law was officially declared, with Unionist reinforcements being called to muster from Belfast and other parts of Ireland and England, using the rail stations that the rebels had failed to secure. Pearse was able to speak to a large gathering of Dublin residents and implored them and all Irish to rise up in support of the rebels and the newly declared republic.

On Wednesday, April 26th, British artillery moved into position and fired on rebel positions around the city center, shocking the rebel command staff who did not believe that the British would actually shell Dublin. The British began to either shell or advance on rebel positions scattered all over, with some positions surrendering to the British after heavy fighting or burning their occupied buildings as they retreated, rather than let the British take them. More British forces arrived from England, now with thousands of unionist forces either in Dublin or arriving shortly. The rebels, while surrendering in some areas, were able to successfully resist in others, inflicting heavy casualties on the British, with one British unit suffering 240 casualties as they made repeated attempts to cross the Grand Canal, with just 4 rebels being killed in that fighting.

Over the next three days, from Thursday, April 27th to Saturday the 29th, the Brits steadily captured rebel position after rebel position. However, the urban fighting was brutal, with the British having to employ the use of armored cars, machine guns, and artillery to make gains against the entrenched rebels, at some points only able to secure buildings by tunneling through the walls of neighboring buildings to break into occupied structures. Innocent civilians trapped in the city center were caught in the crossfire, with groups being killed and outright executed by the British army for suspected assistance to lthe rebels.

Finally, the GPO was evacuated by the rebels on the 28th, after heavy shelling and gunfire made the position untenable. The decision to surrender was made by Pearse and the rest of the IRB council (except for Clarke) on the 29th, realizing rebel forces were surrounded and outgunned, ordering all rebel positions to give up. By the surrender, 260 civilians, 143 Unionist or British soldiers, and 82 rebels were dead, with thousands of civilians and hundreds on each side wounded. Nearly 3,500 people were arrested, some for looting in the chaos of the rebellion, but around half were rebels. The British tried just under 200 people in secret military courts, against British law, with conflicts of interest being outright ignored. 29 of the around 200 were sentenced to death, some of which were not leaders or did not kill anyone. Due to tension and growing outcry, bordering on levels of further rebellion, the British executed only 16 out of the 29 by firing squad or hanging, commuting the rest to prison, in an attempt to quiet the dissent. Of the 16 executed, most of the leadership of the Rising were among them, including Pearse, Clarke, and the rest of the aforementioned leadership, except Eamon de Valera due to his possessing of American citizenship.

While the British hoped to crush anti-unionist sentiments with the execution of the Easter Rising leadership, the opposite effect occurred. The Irish people were originally outraged by the violence and disruption of daily life caused by the uprising and turned against the rebels but as British atrocities during the rebellion, like massacres of unarmed male citizens, the use of human shields, summary executions, and the executions of the leadership after secret trials with no chance of defense came to light, public opinion shifted towards the rebels with massive public outcry occurring after the executions. Post execution of the leaders, support for republicanism and independence in Ireland grew, instead of declining like the British intended. These growing political feelings in the aftermath of the Rising, further stoked by the massive loss of Irish born soldiers in the Battle of the Somme later that year, are credited with leading directly to the Irish war of Independence in 1919-1921, which resulted in Irish victory and full independence from the British after 700 years.