Rebels Attack

East Rising 1916 – six days that transformed Ireland

Patrick Pearse

On Easter Monday in 1916, 150 men walked out of a trade union headquarters in Dublin and then marched their way into history.

They were drawn from a number of groups including the Irish Volunteer Force and the Irish Citizens Army.

They were not very well trained and they were even less well armed but their actions were to transform Ireland for ever.

At the head of this motley force were Patrick Pearse of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), and James Connolly of the Transport and General Workers Union.

The plan was to proclaim an independent Irish Republic

James Connolly

The plan was for several groups to take control of key buildings throughout Dublin and proclaim an independent republic.

The group led by Pearse and Connolly were marching the few hundred yards from the appropriately named Liberty Hall, the transport union’s headquarters, to Dublin’s General Post Office building.

The rebels didn’t attract much attention as they marched, either from the authorities or the people of Dublin. It was normal for them to train in public and so no one paid them much attention.

That soon changed, however, when they arrived outside the GPO on Sackville Street (later renamed as O’Connell Street). Connolly suddenly gave the order to charge and his troops stormed the building. They quickly took control.

The Proclamation of Irish Independence

Carlisle Bridge, Sackville St

Once inside they took down the British Union Flag and replaced it with two others: one was a plain green flag with the inscription, Irish Republic, and the other was the tricolour of green, white and orange that would later become Ireland’s national flag.

Patrick Pearse then read the Proclamation, declaring that they were now the Government of a new independent Ireland. It was a momentous occasion but at the time it meant little to the bemused onlookers who couldn’t quite make out what was going on.

After taking over the GPO, the rebels set about fortifying their position as best they could as they waited for the British authorities to respond.

The rebels seized strategic positions across Dublin

There were similar scenes taking place at the same time across Dublin. The insurgents were taking over other key locations including the Four Courts, the South Dublin Union, Jacob’s Factory, St Stephen’s Green, Boland’s Mills and the College of Surgeons.

These locations were chosen because they would enable the rebels to control main roads into the city.

The Easter Rising had been planned by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. They hoped that the British would be pre-occupied with the Great War in Europe and so would not be able to respond with the same speed and force as they would in peacetime.

This turned out to be a miscalculation. It was true that the British were heavily committed in Europe, but they could still muster far more firepower than the rebels and moved quickly to suppression the Rising.