1916:

A Tribute to the Patrick Pearse and the Easter Rising

Patrick Henry Pearse was born on November 10, 1879 at 27 Great Brunswick St. in Dublin. Like the American patriot Patrick Henry who spoke the famous words "..give me liberty or give me death!" Patrick Henry Pearse also was a patriot. Pearse led the Easter Rising of 1916 and will never be forgotten as one of Ireland's greatest of men.

Many people in Ireland at the time of Pearse were not of pure Irish blood, and Pearse was no different. His father was a monumental sculptor and an Englishman, his mother was Irish and came from County Meath. For most of Pearse's life he was interested in the Irish language which he began to learn at age 11. The language had become spoken less and less in Ireland as the British had tried to discourage its usage it over the centuries. Later in his life as a school teacher he greatly encouraged the learning and use of the Irish language to his pupils.

Pearse graduated from the Royal University of Ireland where he studied to be an attorney, but he never practiced. He joined the Gaelic League in 1895. In 1908, with his brother William and friends Thomas MacDonagh, and Con Colbert Pearse founded an Irish Language school called St. Enda's. The school was at Cullenwood House in Rathmines outside of Dublin. The school greatly prospered and was moved in 1910 to The Hermitage, Rathfarnham. The school was eventually run by Pearse's mother and sister until the school was closed in 1935.

Besides being a teacher and headmaster, P.H Pearse was a writer and poet. Pearse wrote poetry in Irish and English, however most of his work was not published until after his death. Pearse also contributed articles to Arthur Griffith (founder of Sinn Féin) for his newspaper, "The United Irishmen." Pearse became a strong supporter for Irish freedom, and went from a supporter of Home Rule to a Republican. In 1913 he helped found the Irish Volunteers, an Irish militia, to help defend Irish freedom. This group, combined with the Irish Citizen Army, (formed by patriot and socialist James Connolly) would later evolve to become the Irish Republican Army. Later that same year, Pearse joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).

In February of 1914 Pearse traveled to America to seek money for his school and the Irish Volunteers. In July, 1914, the Irish Volunteers obtained weapons and ammunition. The organization now had the weapons and financial support to take military action against Britain to get them out of Ireland. Pearse once wrote, "There are many things more horrible than bloodshed, and slavery is one of them."

In the summer of 1915 the body of Irish patriot, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa was brought from America to Ireland for burial. At Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin, Pearse delivered one of his most famous speeches. This speech stirred the nation.

The next year would be Pearse's last, but also the most memorable as he led the Irish people in a fight for freedom. This fight was the Easter Rising of 1916.

England was deep in to the first World War. Britain was threatening conscription (to draft for military service) on Ireland, which was greatly opposed by most of the country. Though there was talk of a rising, many Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) members thought the country was not ready for rebellion.

The Irish Volunteer's Chief of Staff, Eoin MacNiel was strongly opposed to the rising. In the end, Patrick Pearse with the Volunteers, and James Connolly with his Citizen Army planned the rebellion for Easter Sunday. A shipment of arms was expected to arrive from Germany, but the ship bringing the arms were captured by British forces and the weapons were lost.

Despite this set back, on Easter Sunday, 1916, in Dublin, about 1,700 people rose up against the British. The rebels quickly captured several key points in the city including the General Post Office (GPO). In the plans for the rising the GPO had been designated as the headquarters of the new Irish government. A day before the rising Pearse and six others which include Thomas J. Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, James Connolly, Thomas MacDonagh, Eamonn Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett, signed the Proclamation of Poblacht Na H Eireann or the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic.

By early afternoon of Easter Sunday the tricolor of the Irish Republic and a green flag with a gold harp in the center flew above the GPO. Across Dublin, rebels holding the strategic positions all awaited the British response to the rising. Many of the men and women who fought in the rising would become very well known in the years to follow. These included Michael Collins, Eamon de Valera, Cathal Brugha, and Constance Markievicz. In the next few days as fighting spread across the city, the poor began looting stores in the confusion, and rebels were being surrounded by approximately 20,000 British troops.

The rebels continued to hold out as long as possible. At Mount Street Bridge on Wednesday, 12 of De Valera's men held off two battalions of British troops for 9 hours. On Thursday the British began an artillery bombardment of the GPO. Pearse surrendered and an order was sent to the other outposts. On Sunday the rest surrendered, at 5 o'clock on the 30th of April, the tricolor was taken down from the GPO.

The rebels were marched off to prison and the reaction of the people of Dublin shocked them all. The people screamed at them and threw objects at them. The people had been unable to work for a week and were going hungry, others had lost family members and had their homes destroyed.

General Maxwell, the British commander, was the one who courtmartialed the rebel leaders. Within days, the trials before courts of 3 British soldiers in which the defendants had no lawyers, were over. Every defendant was found guilty and the punishment was death. Pearse wanted to be remembered as a martyr hero such as Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet. To the court Pearse said, "You cannot conquer Ireland. You can not extinguish the Irish passion for freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom, then our children will win it by a better deed."

As Pearse walked to where he would meet his death, he was given a ten-inch crucifix of brass to carry with him, by Father Aloysius who was attending the men. With a blindfold in place Pearse walked to the place where two of his friends, Tomas J. Clarke and Tomas MacDonagh had been recently shot before. In the northwest corner of the compound Patrick Henry Pearse stood blindfolded as the shooting squad aimed their guns. An order rang out, "Aim." and then "FIRE!" With that order the life of Patrick Henry Pearse ended, but his memory will still live in the hearts of the Irish people.

Quotes of Patrick Pearse