Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Easter Uprising 1916

I know, it's been a while. Life, what can I say. Today's topic is the 1916 Easter Uprising. Without this uprising the Ireland you and I know know would not exist.

In 1916 the Irish took a page from the United States. They read a declaration of independence and took over parts of Dublin on Easter Sunday. For a full week they fought the occupation forces of the British Empire. They lost horribly. Even the Irish public had no love for the uprising until the English government started to execute to leaders. One of the leaders, Pearce had to be propped up in a chair in order to be executed. His ankle had been shattered by a bullet.

Armed insurrection in Ireland to this point was not something new, but it was different in that both Catholics and Protestants joined together in large numbers in an attempt to remove from Irish soil a government that never truly had a right to Irish lives.

Rest in Peace and Thank you to those who rose up on an Easter Sunday in a tiny country.