Irish History

Authors Avatar

History GCSE Coursework

1. Explain why there was a rising in Dublin in 1916.

The Easter Rising was a militarily unsuccessful rebellion staged in Ireland against British rule, which started on Easter Monday in April 1916.  When World War 1 began, Irish nationalists decided to put their demands on hold until the war was over. However, by 1916, a small group of Fenians decided that they had waited long enough. They organised an armed rebellion in Dublin on Easter Monday 1916. They took over the Post Office and declared Ireland a republic. After a week, the uprising collapsed and the rebels surrendered.  It was a surprise to most people, as they were not expecting it.

The Rising was inspired by a rise in Irish nationalism.  The Gaelic Revival of the Irish language was one of the indirect causes it was mainly promoted by the  and .  Another was the popularity of the Gaelic League.  This was founded by Douglas Hyde, Eoin Mac Neill, Father Eugene O' Growney, and four others.  And the Anglo Irish Literary Society was also an indirect cause.

There were also some long term reasons for the Easter Rising.  The Irish Nationalists aim to set up an independent Ireland.  This would mean that they would loose ties with England and the rest of Great Britian. Irish Nationalism was also a key factor in long term causes of the Rising.   Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of  from . The nationalist position is often contrasted with that of . Irish nationalism is particularly associated with the  community, especially in .  There was usually a history of violence within Ireland.  Some examples are Wolfe Tonne and the United Irishmen.  Another key factor was Irelands dissatisfation with the Act of Union,

1800.  During the Irish Famine between 1846 and 1849 the British government at Westminster did very little to help the people suffering.  The Irish strongly held this against the British.

The main short term cause was the emergence of the three paramilitary groups. These were the Irish Volunteers, the IRB and Irish Citizen Army.  The Irish Volunteers consisted of ten thousand members and the leader was Eoin Mac Neill.  The IRB were very small and possibly had one hundred members, they were run by Patrick Pearse and The Irish Citizen Army also had around one hundred members there leader was James Connolly.  The First World War provided a opportunity for the Irish.  This meant that England was busy fighting elsewhere.  ‘Englands difficulty was Irelands Oppurtunity.’  Redmonds Woodenbridge Speech was also a key reason for the Rising.  

There were also some immediate reasons for the Easter Rising.  There were many mishaps and misunderstandings.  It was Holy week.  The Castle document was a fraud.  Another key element was the arrest of Casement.  This meant that the British thought that they had dealt with the matter and thought no more about it.  They changed the date of the Rising from Easter Sunday to Easter Monday.   The Rising wasn’t very well organised on a whole.

There were three key individuals that were responsible for the Rising.  These are Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and Eoin Mac Neill.

So as you can tell from above there were many key reasons or the Easter Rising in 1916.  There were not to many people involved but it is a key date in Irelands history.  The man who organised it are now martyrs within Ireland.  They made Ireland the way it is today.  Many people are grateful to these men.  The main men who organised the Rising where Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and Eoin Mac Neill.

2. Analyse what you consider to be the main immediate and long term consequences of the rising in Dublin in 1916.

The Easter rising lasted only five days, but in Ireland the consequences are still being felt today.

Immediate results caused by the surrender of the Rising came into effect almost instantly.  The damage to property in and around the city of Dublin was well over £1,000,000.  The rubble from the 1916 rising was used to build terracing at the Railway End of Croke Park. The terrace became known as Hill 16.  There was also a huge number of people injured or killed, four hundred and fifty people were killed during this rising and two thousand, six hundred people were injured, unfortunately, most of these were civilians.  The organisers of the rising were all arrested.  Sixteen of these were executed.  These men were , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  and .  By carrying out these executions the British made sure that these men would never be forgotton.  Although only one thousand six hundred men had taken part in the Rising, the police had arrested over three thousand for taking part.  These arrests of innocent men created even more sympathy for the rebels.  Another immediate result of the Rising was the blame of Sinn Féin.  They got most of the blame for causing the Rising.  Today’s Sinn Féin was only formed in 1917.  It was made up of former members of the Irish Volunteers, I.R.B and Irish Citizen Army.  They wanted to put an end to the Irish – British connection.  Their aim was to use peaceful methods to win independence for Ireland.  The British had mistakingly called the leaders of the Easter Rising ‘Sinn Féiners’ and refered to the 1916 ‘Sinn Féin Rebellion,’ even though the group had very little to do with the Rising.  The name had become so well known that the group decided to call itself Sinn Féin.  This is Gaelic for ‘ourselves.’  

Join now!

There were various short-term results as well.  The Conscription Crisis of 1918 was stemmed from a move by the  to impose  in .  After the Easter Rising England was in desperate need of men to fight in the War.  They tried to force young Irish men to join them.  Sinn Féin, the Homerule Party and the Catholic Church was against this and tried to stop it.  This was called the anti-conscription crisis.  Whenever the British arrested the innocent men who had took no part  in the Rising there was an uproar.  By the end of the Summer they realised what ...

This is a preview of the whole essay