Easter Rising

Easter Rising (24 Apr.–1 May 1916) An armed insurrection against British rule in Ireland. The secret Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood intended it to be a national rebellion on Easter Sunday, 23 April. But a series of organizational and planning blunders meant that supporting arms organized by Casement did not arrive. The rising was called off, but Patrick Pearse and others decided to proceed nevertheless, on Easter Monday. The confusion meant that the nationwide rising failed, while the Dublin one proceeded. Volunteers lead by Pearse and members of the Irish Citizen Army lead by James Connolly occupied the General Post Office in Sackville Street, which became the headquarters of the rising. Pearse announced the Proclamation of an Irish Republic, reading out the document and posting it around the GPO. Various other parts of central Dublin administration were attacked and occupied, including the Four Courts, Liberty Hall, City Hall, and various strategic hospitals and factories. The British army counter-attacked fully on 25 April, recovering several important buildings, and cordoning off many of the rebels' communication avenues. British reinforcements began to arrive from Belfast and other postings, and on 27 April the British started shelling the GPO and the Four Courts. Pearse and his rebels retreated from the burning GPO to Moore Street on 28 April, and on 29 April they surrendered. Rebels were captured, imprisoned, and tried. Martial law was proclaimed and the rising's leaders court-martialled. Pearse and fourteen other leaders were executed between 3 and 12 May. Although the rising itself was a dismal failure, Pearse and his fellow leaders quickly entered popular mythology as martyrs for Irish nationhood. The harsh British reaction to the rising prompted such widespread anti-British feelings as to make continued British rule in Ireland impossible within five years.