1916 and Independence: Part 1
- On Easter Monday 1916 about 1000 men from The Irish Volunteers and The Irish Citizen Army marched through Dublin and took control of some important buildings.
- Their headquarters were in the GPO.
- Pádraig Pearse read a Proclamation declaring Ireland a Republic.
- The British moved in on Tuesday morning.
- By Saturday morning the city was in ruins and the rebels decided to surrender.
- Nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell carried a white flag to the British.
- About 450 people had been killed and 2,500 injured.
- The people of Dublin were annoyed at the rebels because their city was now in ruins.
- 15 of the rebel leaders were later shot dead in Kilmainham Jail. This changed the attitude of many Dubliners who came to realise that they were actually heroes who died for their country.
- Éamonn De Valera was not shot because he had been born in America. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released a year later.
- In 1905 Aurthur Griffith had founded Sinn Féin, he wanted Ireland to be completely separate from Britain. In 1918 there was a general election and Sinn Féin won 73 of 105 seats. However attitudes had changed since 1916 and nationalists now wanted full independence and not Home Rule.
- The elected members set up their own parliament in Dublin in 1919. They called it Dáil Éireann and made Éamonn De Valera its first leader. They declared Ireland a republic.
- Michael Collins took charge of the Irish Volunteers. They became known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA).