English monarchs had ruled Ireland since 1541, when Henry VIII was crowned King of Ireland (prior to that, Ireland had been a papal property of the English crown). In 1800, The Acts of Union abolished the Irish Parliament and created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Over the 19th century, competing nationalist and Home Rule movements sought a return of self-government through social, legal, and revolutionary means. In 1914, the Home Rule Act restored self-government to Ireland; however, as World War I broke out, its implementation was continually postponed. (In that conflict, more than 200,000 Irishmen fought in the British Army.) Against the chaotic backdrop of the conflict, nationalist groups collaborated to plan an armed insurrection against British rule.
Easter Sunday
April 23, 1916: The Rising has initially been planned for this day; however, two days prior, British troops seize a German ship carrying arms destined for the Irish Volunteer forces. In response to the loss of these much-needed munitions, Volunteer leader Eoin MacNeill attempts to call off the Rising. As would-be fighters continue to arrive in Dublin despite MacNeill’s warnings, however, Patrick Pearse and other leaders decide to postpone the Rising to the following day and proceed.
Monday
April 24, 1916: The Rising begins in Dublin. Forces from the Irish Citizen Army and the Irish Volunteers occupy key locations around the city. They establish strongholds at the General Post Office (GPO), St. Stephen’s Green, City Hall, Boland’s Mills, Four Courts, and other central landmarks. Patrick Pearse reads the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and raises the Irish tricolor above the GPO.
Tuesday
April 25, 1916: Initially taken by surprise, British authorities declare martial law and mount a military response to the Rising. British troops establish a cordon around the city center and mass in Dublin Castle. A firefight drives Irish Volunteers from St. Stephen’s Green. Pearse calls upon citizens to support the Rising with his Manifesto to the Citizens of Dublin. A mob begins to loot several prominent Dublin shops.
Wednesday
April 26, 1916: British military response intensifies. General Maxwell departs London under command to restore order by any means necessary. Gunships and field artillery shell remaining Volunteer strongholds, including the GPO. In an encounter known as the Battle of Mount Street Bridge, Irish Volunteers inflict heavy casualties on the British. James Connolly’s Irish Citizen Army fly their flag, the “Starry Plough,” over the Imperial Hotel.
Thursday
April 27, 1916: Irish Volunteers make strong showings at several locations, but more British troops arrive and begin inflicting heavy casualties, including civilian deaths and extensive destruction of buildings. Pearse announces (fictitiously) that the Provinces have risen in support of the Rising in order to rally the troops still stationed in the GPO.
Friday
April 28, 1916: British forces now reach around 18,000, greatly outnumbering the approximately 1,600 Irish Volunteers. When a fire caused by shelling starts to spread, Pearse orders the evacuation of the GPO. Tunneling through the walls of adjacent buildings, the Volunteers begin a bloody final retreat.
Saturday
April 29, 1916: Pearse accepts unconditional surrender. After 485 fatalities (a majority of them civilian), over 2,500 wounded, and over 1,500 prisoners taken to British internment camps, the Rising concludes.
May 1916
After courts-martial conducted in secret and without defense counsel, Patrick Pearse and 14 other leaders of the Rising (including all seven signatories of the Proclamation) are executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol. (James Connolly is shot while tied to a chair, unable to stand due to a shattered ankle).
Aftermath
After the executions, resentment towards British rule grows. Martial law is enforced until November of 1916, and a broad nationalist coalition forms under the banner of Sinn Féin, formalized in October 1917. Fueled by outrage at an attempted forced conscription by the increasingly troop-strapped British Army, Sinn Féin sweeps parliamentary elections in 1918. They form the Dáil Éireann, a revolutionary parliament, and adopt the Irish Declaration of Independence on January 21, 1919. The Irish Republican Army, led by Michael Collins, mounts the guerilla War for Independence. After two years of fighting and over 2,000 fatalities, the Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed, granting independence to 26 of Ireland’s 32 counties.
Timeline Prepared by Kevin Lombard and Robert Duffley. Sources: The City and the Rising (Dublin City Council, 2016), “Neighbours across the sea: A brief history of Anglo-Irish relations” (BBC, 2014), “The Executed Leaders of the 1916 Rising” (Department of the Taoiseach, 2013), “1916 Necrology 485” (Glasnevin Trust, 2015).
“Riots and Risings” Sources: Robert Lowery, Ed., A Whirlwind in Dublin (Praeger, 1984); John Houchin, Censorship of the American Theatre in the Twentieth Century(Cambridge UP, 2009). Research contributed by Kevin Lombard and Matthew Munroe.
Image Credit
Dublin Bread Company after the Easter Rising, 1916: National Library of Ireland on the Commons
