1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, everybody. Today's classic is a little bit newer 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: than the ones that we have shared on previous Saturdays. 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,959 Speaker 1: It is our April episode on the Easter Rising, and 4 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: we have a new episode coming up next week that's 5 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: focused on one of the figures from the Rising, and 6 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: because there are several other major events to talk about 7 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: in that upcoming episode, we didn't want to spend too 8 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: much time recapping something that we've covered before, but we 9 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 1: also did not want new listeners to miss out on 10 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: that part of the story, So enjoy. Welcome to Stuff 11 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: you missed in History Class from housetop works dot com. Hello, 12 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I am Tracy B. Wilson 13 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: and I'm Holly Fry. The anniversary of Ireland's nineteen sixteen 14 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: Easter Rising is really just around the corner, so consequently 15 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: we have been getting periodic requests talk about it for 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: about the last year today. This is considered to be 17 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,559 Speaker 1: one of the most pivotal moments in modern Irish history 18 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: and it was the precursor to a number of events 19 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: that have happened since then, both within and outside of Ireland. 20 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: But at the same time, it's an event that was 21 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:21,199 Speaker 1: and continues to be really full of contradictions. There were 22 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: a lot of different organizations that were involved in planning 23 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: the Easter Rising and carrying it out, and each group 24 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: had its own perspectives and goals, and the people within 25 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: each group did too, and a lot of times these 26 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: contradicted each other. Although what happened is pretty well established, 27 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: there's still significant disagreement about what it meant and whether 28 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: it was justified. And depending on who is doing the talking, 29 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: it was either a much needed anti colonial revolt that 30 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: directly led to Ireland's independence or it was an unasked 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: for violent overthrow of a democratically elected government. So wildly 32 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: diverging spectives on what it was all about. Even though 33 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: it happened a century ago, so you might think things 34 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: were a little more settled about understanding it today. A 35 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 1: lot of papers related to it were only released by 36 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: Ireland's Bureau of Military History and two thousand and three, 37 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: after the last of the survivors had died, the Irish 38 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: government actually established the Bureau of Military History in nineteen 39 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: forty seven to document the perspectives of the people who 40 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: had been involved involved in revolutionary activities between nineteen thirteen 41 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: and nineteen twenty one. This is the biggest collection of 42 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: written accounts from the Republican point of view that exists, 43 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: and so basically decades passed between when the events happened 44 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: and when a lot of these documentations or a lot 45 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: of these individual testimonies were written down, and then once 46 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: they were released to historians to review, which only happened 47 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: comparatively recently, all the people whose memories were documented there 48 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: had passed away. All this together means that today's podcast 49 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: cannot possible touch on every motivation and every interpretation for 50 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: the Easter Rising, or even everything that happened during Easter 51 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: Week nineteen sixteen. It also means that the written history 52 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: of the Easter Rising and people's perspectives on its significance 53 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: and its impact will definitely continue to evolve long after 54 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: this podcast is over. So today is really an overview 55 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: of the basics and some of the way is that 56 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: people interpret the Easter Rising today. Conflicts between England and 57 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: Ireland about how Ireland should be ruled and by whom 58 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: go back for centuries, As we've talked about on the show, 59 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: before the Normans invaded what is now England in the 60 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: Battle of Hastings, in ten sixty six, and then about 61 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: a hundred years later, Anglo Norman's went on to invade Ireland, 62 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: with Henry the Second arriving there in eleven seventy one. 63 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: In fifteen forty one, Henry the Eighth was declared King 64 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: of Ireland. The Irish Parliament was formally abolished in eighteen 65 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: o one when the nation became part of the United 66 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Act of Union. 67 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: At that point, Ireland's MP's and peers became part of 68 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: the UK Parliament, rather than Ireland having a Parliament of 69 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: its own. So throughout all of these centuries a wide 70 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: range of laws and policies were put into place that 71 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: restricted the Irish population in various ways, particularly related to 72 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: religious freedoms. Most but not all, of the people in 73 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: Ireland were and continued to be Catholic, just as examples 74 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: in the early seventeenth century, King James the First sent 75 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: Protestant farmers to Ireland, specifically to take over farmland that 76 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: was owned by Catholics. Laws that forbade Catholics from voting, 77 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: owning land, or practicing their religion were passed in nineteen 78 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: sixte two, when a potato blight struck Ireland in eighteen 79 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: forty five, which we've talked about in a previous two 80 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: part on the show. The British government's response was basically 81 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 1: to do nothing, which led to about a million deaths 82 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: and a massive wave of immigration from Ireland to other nations, 83 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: include in the United States. So unsurprisingly, there has also 84 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: been resistance to English rule of Ireland during those same centuries, 85 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: through both violent and non violent means, and often these 86 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,600 Speaker 1: conflicts have had multiple sides, with some of the Irish 87 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: populations supporting the idea of self governance or independence and 88 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: others supporting the idea of remaining as part of the 89 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: United Kingdom, and these conflicts have had both political and 90 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: religious roots which have often been deeply interconnected. Throughout the 91 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: history of English presence in Ireland, more moderate groups and 92 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: political parties have basically tried to work within the system 93 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: through things like petitions and demonsts, demonstrations and getting nationalist 94 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:44,039 Speaker 1: representatives elected to Parliament. At the same time, more radical 95 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: groups have led numerous armed uprisings, and whether they were 96 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: violent or non violent, all of these movements and uprisings 97 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: and rebellions have all had their own leaders and their 98 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: own ideologies and their own tipping points, but at a 99 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: very basic level, they were all about Ireland resisting British 100 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: rule or British laws and practices that Irish people found 101 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,160 Speaker 1: to be unjust or discriminatory. In the eighteen seventies, isaac 102 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: BUT established the Home Government Association, which called for Home rule, 103 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: basically Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom while also 104 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: governing itself through its own parliament, which would convene in 105 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,280 Speaker 1: Ireland rather than England. Through the late eighteen hundreds and 106 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: into the early nineteen hundreds, multiple Home Rule bills were 107 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:31,039 Speaker 1: introduced in Parliament, but they ultimately failed. Then, finally, after 108 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: two years of debate, the Government of Ireland Act of 109 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,479 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen was given Royal assent on September eighteenth of 110 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: that year. This Act was intended to establish Home rule 111 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: in Ireland, but on the same day the Suspensary Act 112 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: of nineteen fourteen was also passed, which effectively delayed the 113 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: Government of Ireland Act, along with the Welsh Church Act 114 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: of nineteen fourteen, which we're not really talking about today, 115 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: from going into effect for a year. This was because 116 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: of World War One, which was going on at the time. 117 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: This situation made a lot of people with widely diverging 118 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: ideologies extremely angry. The Government of Ireland Act itself infuriated 119 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,559 Speaker 1: the most radical Unionists, that is, the people who wanted 120 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom because it 121 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: would allow for a separate parliament for Ireland. Many, but 122 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: not all of these were Protestants living in the northern 123 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: part of Ireland. It simultaneously infuriated the most radical Republicans, 124 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: that is, the people who wanted Ireland to be completely 125 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: independent from the United Kingdom because under the Act, Ireland 126 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: would continue to be part of the UK. Along with 127 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: other organizations that had been formed for and against the 128 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: idea of home rule, while this Act was being debated, 129 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: militias had formed as well. There was the Ulster Volunteers. 130 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: These were on the Unionist side, mostly in the northern 131 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: part of Ireland, and then there were the Irish Volunteers 132 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: on the nationalist side. They were basically the Irish Volunteers 133 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: were formed kind of in response to the existence of 134 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: the Ulster Volunteers. Then there was the Irish Citizen Army, 135 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: which was originally formed to protect protesters from police during 136 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: a labor dispute, which had evolved into a nationalist organization 137 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: as well. People whose opinions were more moderate were generally 138 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: in favor of Home Rule. It was a sort of 139 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: compromise between being independent and remaining part of the UK, 140 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: and a lot of them agreed that the middle of 141 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: a war wasn't the right time to go about separating 142 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: Ireland's government from the UK Parliament. But the year long 143 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: delay brought about by the Suspensary Act did lead some 144 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: supporters of Home Rule to fear that by the time 145 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: that year was up or the war was over, something 146 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: would happen to derail it entirely. I should also point 147 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: out that there are pretty moderate Protestants living in the 148 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: mostly in the northern part of Ireland, who were not 149 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: in favor of Home Rule because they were afraid that 150 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: if Home Rule were implemented that their needs would be 151 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: outweighed by the majority Catholic vote ah and that that 152 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: wasn't as much of a threat um as with everyone 153 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,560 Speaker 1: being part of the UK Parliament rather than having a 154 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: separate parliament for Ireland. The people who planned and executed 155 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,319 Speaker 1: the Easter Rising were against Home Rule. They were all 156 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: Republicans who wanted Ireland to be completely independent from the 157 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: United Kingdom. We'll talk about who they were and what 158 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: they planned to do after a brief word around a 159 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: fusor getting back to the story. A huge number of 160 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: people and organizations were involved in the nineteen sixteen Easter Rising. 161 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: The Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army has mentioned before 162 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 1: the break We're both involved, as was the Irish Republican 163 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,320 Speaker 1: Brotherhood which went by i RB, who we discussed in 164 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: our podcast on the Catalpa. Kuman Naman was a women's 165 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: militia formed in response to the fact that the Irish 166 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: volunteers were all male. A nationalist youth organization called Nafina 167 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:10,599 Speaker 1: Aran was involved as well, along with many other smaller organizations. 168 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: In terms of the participants, the largest numbers of actual 169 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: people were from the Irish Volunteers in the Irish Citizen Army, 170 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: but in terms of leadership, the people who were in 171 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,079 Speaker 1: the most powerful positions who did the most strategic planning 172 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: were from the Irish Republican Brotherhood, who were also known 173 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: as the Fenians. This has since then evolved into a 174 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,680 Speaker 1: slur often used against Irish people. A lot of the 175 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: first pieces of the planning an organization started with IRB 176 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:44,439 Speaker 1: members Thomas Clark and Sean mcgearmada. Essentially with the start 177 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 1: of World War One, Thomas Clark and other militant nationalists 178 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 1: in the i RB saw an opportunity. Within just a 179 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: couple of weeks of Britain's entry into the war on 180 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: August five of nineteen fourteen, the i RB had decided 181 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: to pursue the idea of an open rebellion be or 182 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: the end of the war. The government was focused on 183 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: the war and not on Ireland. Plus, the war had 184 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,839 Speaker 1: led to a schism within the Irish Volunteers, with many 185 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: of them volunteering to fight following the encouragement of Irish 186 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,679 Speaker 1: Revolutionary Party leader John Redmond. The ones who were left 187 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: were primarily the organization's most radical members, who were against 188 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: both Irish involvement in the war and Home rule. Consequently, 189 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: the i RB was able to place some of its 190 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:34,439 Speaker 1: most radical members into leadership roles within the Irish Volunteers. Soon, 191 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: Padrick Pierce, whose name is often anglicized to Patrick, Joseph Plunkett, 192 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 1: Aiman Kant and Thomas McDonough had all been placed into 193 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: positions that were directing the organization's military training and communications functions. 194 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: While planning the rising, they turned to Germany for support, 195 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: with Roger Casement, subject of a previous podcast that previous 196 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: hosts Sara and Deblina worked on trying to secure weapons, 197 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: ammunition officer, and an army of volunteers recruited from Irish 198 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: POW's being held in Germany. Neither of these efforts was successful, 199 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: few of the POWs wanted to volunteer, and the largest 200 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: weapons shipment was intercepted on its way to Ireland. A 201 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: couple of side notes here. Casement ultimately realized that the 202 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: rising was not likely to succeed, and he tried to 203 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: return to Ireland to discourage it, but he arrived too 204 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: late and he was captured and charged with treason. There's 205 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: a lot more detail about that in this episode from 206 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: the archive, which will link to you in our show notes. Also, 207 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: Germany basically wound up providing weapons to both the Irish 208 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: Volunteers and the Ulster Volunteers, basically opposite sides of the 209 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 1: Home Rule versus not Home Rule disagreement, in part because 210 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,679 Speaker 1: Germany was really hoping to turn World War One into 211 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: a two front war, with Britain being distracted by fighting 212 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: in Ireland and unable to focus on what was happening 213 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,319 Speaker 1: on the continent. By May of nineteen fifteen, the i 214 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 1: RB had established a military council specifically for planning a rebellion. 215 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,079 Speaker 1: They conducted their planning in total secrecy. They had to 216 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: avoid being caught by Irish authorities as well as by 217 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: the more moderate members of all the organizations that were 218 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: ultimately involved in the rising. This was difficult since one 219 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: of the things they needed to do was to prepare 220 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: the Irish volunteers on the Irish Citizen Army to fight 221 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: in the rebellion without tipping their hands that they were 222 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: planning one. Eventually, they settled on Easter Sunday nineteen sixteen 223 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: and planned a nationwide uprising. The date was to was 224 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: chosen deliberately. The Irish volunteers had conducted some pretty large 225 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: exercises on St. Patrick's Day that year, as well as 226 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: on Easter or the year before, so they were hoping 227 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: that this precedent would make it seem like this mobilization 228 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: was just a recognition of the day and not something 229 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: more violent. However, about a week before Easter, Bulver Hobson, 230 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 1: who was the i RBS Quartermaster General and Owen McNeil, 231 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,559 Speaker 1: chief of staff of the Irish Volunteers, heard about the 232 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: upright thing that was being planned and they confronted Patrick 233 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: Pierce about it. McNeil published an order in the Irish 234 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: Sunday Independent on Easter Sunday commanding that the rising not 235 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: go forward. Another hiccup was that the weapons shipment promised 236 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: from Germany had not arrived on Good Friday as expected. 237 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: That was the one that had been uh that had 238 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: been intercepted on the way. Finally, the decision was made 239 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: to go ahead with the rising in spite of these obstacles, 240 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: but it was moved to Easter Monday and the focus 241 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: was primarily Dublin. There were some other smaller things outside 242 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: of Dublin, but Dublin became the primary focus. On Monday 243 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: a members of the Irish Volunteers led by Patrick Pierce 244 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: and the Irish Citizen Army led by James Connolly, along 245 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 1: with members of Konaman, met at prearranged places at about 246 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: eleven in the morning. Just after noon, they took multiple 247 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: locations around Dublin, including the General Post Office and Bowlin's Mills, 248 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: as well as laying siege to Dublin Castle. The rebels 249 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: established a headquarters the General Post Office, and the Kuma 250 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: Naman set up a field hospital there as well. The 251 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: g p O was also the location of the Provisional Government. 252 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: From the steps of the g p O, Pierce read 253 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: the Proclamation of an Irish Republic, which he had drafted 254 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: and which was signed by seven men, Aiman Kant, Thomas 255 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: James Clark, James Connolly, Sean mcdermida, Thomas McDonough, Patrick Pierce, 256 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: and Joseph Mary Plunkett. It began Irishman and Irish Women 257 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: in the name of God and of the dead generations, 258 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: from which she receives her old traditions of nationhood Ireland 259 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: through us someons our children's are flag and strikes for 260 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: her freedom. It goes on to declare Ireland a sovereign 261 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: nation and quote guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights 262 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its 263 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole 264 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: nation and of all its parts, cherishing all of the 265 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences 266 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: carefully fostered by an alien government which have divided a 267 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: minority from the majority in the past. It ends by 268 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: establishing a provisional government and placing the Irish Republic under 269 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: the protection of the Most High God. We're going to 270 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: talk about how the rising played out and what happened 271 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,680 Speaker 1: in its aftermath, but first we're going to pause once 272 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: again for a word from one of our fantastic sponsors. 273 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: There were some fatalities in the first few hours of 274 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 1: the Easter Rising, but the uprising had caught the British 275 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: mostly by surprise. That changed, however, once Britain actually had 276 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: time to react to what was going on. Britain declared 277 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: martial law, and because Republican forces hadn't been able to 278 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: take control of the railroad stations with the docks, British 279 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: troops were able to make their way to Dublin really easily. 280 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,679 Speaker 1: British troops who were already in Ireland were in Dublin 281 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,359 Speaker 1: by Monday afternoon, and more troops arrived from England on Tuesday. 282 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: Soon about six d rebels were facing off against about 283 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 1: twenty thousand British soldiers. Street fighting was extensive, and the 284 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: rebel held locations that didn't fall right away wound up 285 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: mostly being besieged for the remainder of the week. Britain 286 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,400 Speaker 1: had greater numbers and better weapons, and didn't really hesitate 287 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,919 Speaker 1: to use heavy artillery. This led to extensive damage and 288 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: a number of fires. On Friday night, a fire forced 289 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: the rebels who were in the gp O to have 290 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:43,320 Speaker 1: to flee. Patrick Pierce unconditionally surrendered the next day with 291 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: the hope of preventing more loss of life. With his 292 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 1: surrender reading quote in order to prevent further slaughter of 293 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: the civil population, and in the hope of saving the 294 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,959 Speaker 1: lives of our followers, the members of the Provisional Government 295 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: present at headquarters have decided on an unconditional surrender, and 296 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,320 Speaker 1: commandants or officers commanding districts will order their commands to 297 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: lay down arms. By that point, though the death toll 298 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: was already significant, sixty two rebels died and from the 299 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: British troops, one hundred and six were killed and three 300 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty four were wounded. Hardest hit were civilians 301 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: caught in the crossfire, with two hundred and fifty six 302 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: deaths and thousands of injuries. At first and the immediate 303 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: aftermath of the rising, both Republicans and Unionists were outraged 304 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: at the risings leaders, not at Britain. A lot of 305 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:33,479 Speaker 1: people felt like this was a violent uprising that had 306 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,199 Speaker 1: attempted to overthrow a democratically elected government and replace it 307 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: with people who had basically appointed themselves to the job 308 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: rather than being elected. When Irish Parliamentary Party MP John 309 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 1: Dylan expressed his disapproval of the rebels, but then followed 310 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: it with a statement that they had quote fought a 311 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: clean fight, and they fought with super bravery and skill, 312 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: and no act of savagery or act of the usual 313 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: customs of war end quote. In House of Commons, people 314 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 1: yelled shame at him so like, even though he said 315 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: pretty directly that he disapproved of what they had done, 316 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 1: but that they had fought bravely, people were angry enough 317 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 1: about it that they yelled shame at him on the 318 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:13,120 Speaker 1: uh on the floor of Parliament. Perception shifted, however, after 319 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: Britain began court martialing and executing the leaders of the rising, 320 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 1: including some whose roles had really been quite minor, and 321 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: imprisoning more people than had even participated. Between May three 322 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: and May twelve, all seven people who had signed the 323 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 1: Proclamation of the Irish Republic were executed along with nine 324 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,959 Speaker 1: others for a total of sixteen. These included Roger Casement 325 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: and William Pierce, who was Patrick Pierce's younger brother, and 326 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,200 Speaker 1: all of those executed were buried in a quick line 327 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: with no funeral. Only one woman was court martialed, although 328 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: there were many others who were involved, and that one 329 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: woman was Constance Marketiche. She was known as the larka 330 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: nite rebel countess, and when she surrendered she was reported 331 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: to have kissed her revolver before handing it over. She 332 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 1: was one of the people who had helped found Nafena 333 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: Aaron and during the rising, she was second in command 334 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: to Michael Mollin, who was one of the leaders who 335 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 1: was executed. She was sentenced to death as well, although 336 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: it was commuted to life in prison because of her sex, 337 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: and she was later released under a general amnesty. From there, 338 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,360 Speaker 1: she became the first woman elected to the British Parliament, 339 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,640 Speaker 1: although she and other members of Shenfeine refused to take 340 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,880 Speaker 1: her seat. After she had been elected, I realized how 341 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: awesome she was very late in the process of this, 342 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: and the kind of wish the whole episode had been 343 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 1: about her because she's fascinating and maybe we will do 344 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: that later. I also coincidentally, like I emailed you the 345 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: outline for this episode, and then I checked the inbox 346 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,199 Speaker 1: and we had an email from a listener saying that 347 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: exact thing, like, you could do something about the Easter Rising, 348 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: but this is really who you should focus on. Maybe 349 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: next year for Easter Risings anniversary that will not be 350 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: a hundred Executing the rebellions leaders and imprisoning many others 351 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: had the opposite of act of Britain's intentions. It did 352 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,239 Speaker 1: not discourage for the rebellion or nationalist sentiment. Instead, this 353 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: was when a republican sentiment, which had existed in Ireland 354 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 1: for as long as Britain had been present there to 355 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,120 Speaker 1: really start to pick up steam. Thanks to the Irby 356 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,639 Speaker 1: secrecy and planning the rising for a time, authorities actually 357 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: thought it had been the work of sin Fain, even 358 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,400 Speaker 1: though this was not correct. Sin Fain benefited really enormously 359 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: from the error it reck. It reorganized in the wake 360 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: up the rising and became much more powerful, ultimately replacing 361 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: the more moderate Irish Parliamentary Party in Parliament in the 362 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: next general election. This victory ultimately led to the Irish 363 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: War of Independence from nineteen nineteen and nineteen twenty one, 364 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: after which the six northeastern counties which did not want 365 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: to leave the United Kingdom were partitioned into Northern Ireland 366 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 1: and the rest of Ireland became the Irish Free State 367 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: and then the Republic of Ireland. And this is really 368 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: why people point to the Easter Rising as being this 369 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 1: extremely important formative moment in the history of of the UH, 370 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,640 Speaker 1: in the history of the Republic of Ireland. Like it, 371 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't the thing that like It wasn't quite the 372 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: same as say, the Revolutionary War in the Americas. There 373 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: was a whole other conflict that followed this one. But 374 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 1: this was sort of the turning point of a lot 375 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: of republican sentiment, Like a lot of people who had 376 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:22,880 Speaker 1: been a lot more moderate and said, well, it will 377 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: be fine if we just have home rule, if we 378 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: can rule ourselves but be part of the UK still 379 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: like that, it was really the thing that turned a 380 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: lot of that opinion to be no, we need to 381 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: be completely independent from the UK. UM. So it was 382 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:40,199 Speaker 1: galvanizing moment UH in in terms of republican sentiment in 383 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: Ireland and then in the years that have passed since then, 384 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: the Easter Rising has been cited as the inspiration for 385 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: other a lot of other events, including the Russian Revolution 386 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: and then the troubles in Northern Ireland, which uh for 387 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:57,199 Speaker 1: folks who don't personally remember it, which I think a 388 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,880 Speaker 1: lot of us do, a lot of us were alive 389 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,199 Speaker 1: at the either through all of it or at the 390 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 1: end of the troubles, the decades long conflict between Northern 391 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: Ireland's Unionist Protestants and Republican Catholics, and extremely basic level 392 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:15,640 Speaker 1: law enforcement in Northern Ireland have actually expressed some concerns 393 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,399 Speaker 1: that the centennial of the Eastern Rising of the Easter 394 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: Rising main lead to violent protests in Northern Ireland from 395 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: the folks who would have preferred to have become independent 396 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:31,199 Speaker 1: with the remainder of Ireland as well. And that's the 397 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 1: scoop that is the basics of the Easter Rising. I'm 398 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,400 Speaker 1: not kidding. There is so much more that we could 399 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: talk about, like they're the one of the books that 400 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: that I got for this is one of the ones. There. 401 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 1: There are several books that have come out after that 402 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 1: release of documents that we talked about at the beginning. 403 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 1: UM that generally have a have made a lot of 404 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: use of those particular documents, UM, and one of them 405 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,399 Speaker 1: is quite long. We will they will all be in 406 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,360 Speaker 1: the show notes if you were interested in learned more. Um. 407 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 1: There is all currents, so much more stuff to actually 408 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: that we could actually get into, but this is a 409 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:16,439 Speaker 1: thirty minute podcast, so when we are not, thank you 410 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 1: so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. Since 411 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,159 Speaker 1: this is out of the archive, if you heard an 412 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: email address or a Facebook U r L or something 413 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: similar during the course of the show, that may be 414 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: obsolete now, so here is our current contact information. We 415 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: are at history Podcast at how stuff works dot com, 416 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 1: and then we're at missed in the history all over 417 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: social media that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest, 418 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening for more on this 419 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff works 420 00:24:48,720 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: dot com? Two four