Padraic Pearse

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Pearse, Patrick (1879–1916), educationalist, writer, and revolutionary. Although best known as leader of the rising of 1916, Pearse's nationalism was initially more cultural than political. He became involved with the Gaelic League as a teenager and edited their journal, An Claidheamh Soluis, from 1903 to 1909. He also lectured in Irish at University College, Dublin. Influenced by continental practices in bilingual education he founded St Enda's in 1908, a bilingual secondary school which fostered all things Irish.

Initially willing to accept home rule as a step towards independence, he became convinced that Britain would never voluntarily grant Ireland autonomy when faced with unionist opposition and began to favour the use of force. He was involved in setting up the Irish Volunteers and became their director of operations. He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood and was co‐opted onto the supreme council and the secret military council. His graveside oration at O'Donovan Rossa's funeral in 1915, ending with the much quoted line, ‘Ireland unfree shall never be at peace’, was influential in the build‐up to the rising. He became commander‐in‐chief of the Volunteers during the rising and president of the Provisional Government. As such he signed the unconditional surrender, and was subsequently court‐martialled and executed.

Pearse wrote extensively in Irish and English. In his writing he described bloodshed as a cleansing and sanctifying thing, and stated that a blood sacrifice was needed to awaken the Irish nation. In his eyes slavery was more horrible than bloodshed. This thinking, which can be seen as a response to the realization that a successful rising was unlikely, is largely responsible for the controversial reputation he has enjoyed in recent decades.

Joost Augusteijn

Pearse, Patrick (1879–1916). Pearse was the son of an English-born stonemason, a non-practising lawyer, dramatist, and headmaster of St Enda's School (Dublin), which he ran on Gaelic Revivalist lines. A leading member of the Gaelic League, he supported Home Rule up to 1912: the Ulster crisis caused him to advocate a militant nationalism and to join the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He became a dominant voice in the Irish Volunteers and a member of the IRB military council which planned the Easter Rising. His philosophy of blood-sacrifice appeared to anticipate and justify the course of events during and after the rising. Pearse read the declaration of the Provisional Irish Republic outside the General Post Office on 24 April 1916; gave orders for surrender five days later; and was executed on 3 May. The traditional view of him as a heroic voice of Irish nationalism has recently been questioned, but while impractical and unstable, he was, nevertheless, inspirational.

Michael Hopkinson