Does anyone know much about this time in Irish History please?

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Maxi

The Easter Rising was a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was an attempt by militant Irish republicans to win independence from Britain. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798.

Organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising lasted from Easter Monday April 24 to April 30, 1916. Members of the Irish Volunteers, led by schoolteacher and barrister Padraig Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly, along with 200 members of Cumann na mBan, seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic independent of Britain. There were some actions in other parts of Ireland but, except for the attack on the RIC barracks at Ashbourne, County Meath, they were minor.

The Rising was suppressed after six days of fighting, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed, but it succeeded in bringing physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics. In the 1918 General Election, the last all-island election held in Ireland, to the British Parliament, Republicans won 73 seats out of 105, on a policy of abstentions from Westminster and Irish independence.

This came less than two years after the Rising. In January, 1919, the elected members of Sinn FÃ©in who were not still in prison at the time, including survivors of the Rising, convened the First DÃ¡il and established the Irish Republic.

The British Government refused to accept the legitimacy of the newly declared nation, leading to the Irish War of Independence.

Hope that helps- basically Ireland as a country was part of Great Britain, whereas Southern Ireland is a country independently now and Northern Ireland still forms part of the British Isles, although recently we established our Assembly in Northern Ireland and the parties are working ( well sometimes) together.

Was it worth it? Is any war worth it? You have to talk in the end however the Irish and the British obviously thought it was worth it otherwise they wouldn't have done it, so I suppose it depends on which side you are on.

We have peace (at last) in Northern Ireland now, although the paramilitary are all still there, most of them sit in the Assembly ( on all sides) and are our MLAs.

Ireland both North and South is beautiful and the people are great, very warm and friendly (and nosey) and peace here is very new.

Communities are very close knit still and most are really trying to keep the peace, however there are many 'customs' still in practise that set the troubles off in isolated areas, not least the Orange marches and bonfires when pariotism rears it head each year in July causing fights and attacks between the catholics and protestants.

There are still three questions you get asked when you meet someone new.
1 what is your name ( so they can tell if you are Catholic or Protestant)
2. What school do/did you attend ( so they can tell if you are Catholic or Protestant)
3. what church do you attend ( so they can tell if you are Catholic or Protestant)

So in peoples minds the past doesn't just disappear and they feel they still need to protect themselves.

magidge

Hard to add to what Maxi has said.
She has covered it all and explained it very well in an unbiased way.
Nice to see some serious and decent answers for a change.

Check out her answer on 'what's it like in Northern Ireland'.

agooddub

great answer from MAXI. Concise and unbiased.

Orla C

It changed the course of Irish History!

No point in doing if only and what if nearly 100 years later, mate.

SCOTCH M

those were bleak times, i'd like to think it was all worth it.

Kev

SM remembers it like it was yesterday!

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