1916 Easter Rising

The Easter Rising (Irish: 'Éirí Amach na Cásca') was a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week, 1916. The rising was an attempt by militant Irish republicans to win independence from the United Kingdom by force of arms. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798. The Rising, which was largely organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, lasted from April 24 to April 30, 1916. Members of the Irish Volunteers, led by school teacher and barrister Pádraig Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly, seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic independent of Britain. The Rising was suppressed after six days, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed. Despite its military failure, it can be judged as being a significant stepping-stone in the eventual creation of the Irish Republic. Background: Parliamentary Politics v Physical Force The event is seen as a key turning-point on the road to Irish independence, as it marked a split between physical force Irish republicanism and mainstream non-violent nationalism represented by the Irish Parliamentary Party under John Redmond. Redmond, through democratic parliamentary politics, had won an initial stage of Irish self-government within the United Kingdom, granted through the Third Home Rule Act 1914. This Act, limited by the fact that it partitioned Ireland into Northern Ireland and "Southern Ireland", was placed on the statute books in September 1914, but suspended for the duration of World War I (it ultimately was enacted under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920). By the end of the war, however, and largely as a result of the Rising, the support of nationalist voters had swung away from the IPP to the militant republicans, as represented by the Sinn Féin Party.