The Easter Rebellion

In honor of my Irish heritage on this Saint Paddy's Day, I've decided to highlight one of the most important moments in modern Irish history -- the Easter Rebellion.

On April 24, 1916, teacher and barrister Patrick Pearse (above right) stood on the steps of the Dublin General Post Office and read aloud a proclamation declaring the existence of a free Irish Republic. Pearse was also commander-in-chief of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was accompanied on that day by armed volunteers from the IRB.

Pearse was also joined by James Connolly (above left) and his Irish Citizen Army. The ICA was a group of socialist trade-unionists who had armed themselves to protect union members from the police.

A third group also joined the rebellion -- Cumann na mBan. This was a group of women who had formed to fight for Irish independence. But these women didn't just make coffee and nurse the wounded -- they were armed and fought alongside the men in the other groups (about 200 of them).

Make no mistake, this was not just a group making a political statement. They were staging an armed rebellion, and hoped it would spread across the country and drive the British out.

They seized much of Dublin, and held it for several days. But the English received reinforcements, and were able to quash the rebellion on April 30, 1916. But it took about 16,000 British troops and 1,000 police to defeat the 1,450 members of the rebellion. The British Army had 116 dead, 368 wounded and 9 missing. The police had 16 killed and 29 wounded.

There were 318 Irish killed and 2,217 wounded (many of them civilians). Pearse and 15 other leaders of the rebellion were captured and executed by the British. Connolly had been wounded, so he was tied to a chair and executed.

Although the rebellion was not successful on its own, it did start a countrywide armed rebellion and turned much of the world against the British occupation. This resulted in the creation of the Republic of Ireland a few years later.

Today, Pearse, Connolly and the other rebels are considered Irish heroes and martyrs.