The Easter Rising

The Easter Rising

The Easter Rising

By Michael Foy (2011)
Buy this book
Buy this book

On Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, a force of Irish men and women under arms, estimated at between 1,000 and 1,500, attempted to seize Dublin, with the ultimate intention of bringing to an end British rule in Ireland and creating an independent Irish republic, to include all thirty-two counties of Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connaught. Their leaders, Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, knew that their chances of success were slight, yet they fought, and paid with their lives. This books seeks to explain why. Illuminating every aspect of that fateful Easter week, The Easter Rising is based on an impressive range of original sources, and has been fully revised and expanded in the light of hundreds of witness statements only released by the Irish Bureau of Military History in 2004. It is a vivid depiction of the personalities and actions of the leaders on both sides, and provides an exceptional account of a city at war.

Fact of the Day

Butchers who sold off meat in medieval London ran the risk of being placed in the pillory and having their meat burnt beneath them, so that the rancid smoke would rise into their face.

Quote of the Day

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. "
~ Martin Luther King

On This Day

1579 Thomas Gresham, merchant, financier, and founder of the Royal Exchange, died suddenly, apparently of apoplexy. He bequeathed his estate, after the death of his wife, to the Corporation of London and the Mercers' Company to set up a college to provide free lectures to the public; Gresham College thus became London's first institution of higher education.
1916 The hospital ship Britannic, sister-ship of Titanic, hit a mine and sank, killing 30.
1918 Ten days after the Armistice, the German navy surrendered to the British in the Firth of Forth. 
1920 The assassinations of British intelligence officers ordered by Michael Collins in the Irish War of Independence led to thirty-one dead (from both sides) in what became known as 'Bloody Sunday'.
1974 21 people were killed and 182 injured when bombs exploded in two Birmingham pubs. The IRA was probably responsible, but the real culprits have never been found. The Birmingham Six, originally convicted of the bombings, were released because of dodgy police practices.
1981 The proceedings of the House of Commons were televised live for the first time.