workingclasshistory:

On this day, 24 April 1916, Patrick Pearse proclaimed an Irish Republic outside the General Post Office in Dublin. Pearse was a lawyer, poet and nationalist who thought the early months of WW1 were “the most glorious in the history of Europe” because “Such august homage was never before offered to God as this, the homage of millions of lives given gladly for love of country.” (James Connolly denounced Pearse as a “blitherin’ idiot” for this statement.) The proclamation combined liberal ideals of the enlightenment with a religious framework that placed the Irish Republic “under the protection of the Most High God, Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms.” It asserted that “The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman” and demanded “the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good.” Pearse read the proclamation to a small crowd, who listened politely and then wandered off. By this time battalions of rebels had seized some more or less judicious positions. While Connolly and others had occupied the post office, Countess Markievicz and the Irish Citizen Army had taken control of St Stephen’s Green. Under fire from the overlooking buildings, they retreated to the College of Surgeons, and for six days they held out, their only respite coming every morning when a ceasefire was declared to allow the park keeper to feed the ducks. Eventually, the post office was set on fire by artillery bombardment. Connolly and Pearse’s battalion made a desperate escape under heavy gunfire. 50 rebels took refuge in a house on Henry Place, where one of them accidentally shot dead the owner’s teenage daughter. The rebels tunnelled to a stronger position, but a few metres away, at 16 Moore Street, they surrendered unconditionally. 15 leaders of the rising were executed, including Pearse and James Connolly. Connolly, having been shot in the ankle during the fighting, faced the firing squad tied to a chair. http://bit.ly/2L3Q8WO