The Easter Uprising of Dublin

American colonialists in the 18th century weren’t the only British subjects to rebel against the crown’s suffocating rule and absentee role. It would happen more than 130 years after the American Revolution, when the Irish rose up against their British ruler, starting April 24, 1916, and lasting six days, in what has become known as the Easter Uprising.

Ireland officially became part of Great Britain with the Act of Union in 1800, meaning Dublin lost seats in Parliament and was ruled from afar. Groups of Irish Rebels fought the oppression by the absentee government in favor of home rule, but did not succeed until a bill was passed in 1914 that allowed for partial governance from Dublin. But the advance of World War 1 suspended the new law. Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood pushed on and even sought to align with Germany, who was fighting Britain.

Irish Nationalists, the Irish Citizen Army, the all-female Cumann na mBan and members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood joined forces to seize important places in Dublin, such as the City Hall and the Post Office and establish an Irish Republic over the Easter holiday in 1916. One of the rebels was American-born Irishman Eamon de Valera, who escaped execution and served Ireland faithfully for subsequent decades. In the end, the toll for the rebels was heavy with nearly 50 percent of the 500 victims being innocent civilians and the poorly armed Irish finally having to surrender. The uprising was only the beginning of Ireland’s bloody fight for independence and this year’s centennial anniversary is a reminder of the cost of independence.