The Easter Rising In Ireland, 96 years ago...

96 years ago today, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Irish Volunteers, Irish Citizen Army and the Cumann na mBan banded together to take over key installations in Dublin Ireland. The proclaimed the creation of an Irish Republic, free of Great Britain.

The rebellion was suppressed after only seven days of fighting, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed. It brought the issue to the mainstream in Ireland. In the next election to the British Parliament, the Sinn Féin party won 73 seats out of 105 on a policy of abstentionism and Irish independence. This came less than two years after the Rising. In January 1919, Irish elected officials convened the First Dáil and established the Irish Republic. The British Government refused to accept the legitimacy of the newly declared nation and that led to a war for independence.

The war for independence lasted 2 years before a cease fire was called. The post-ceasefire talks led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which ended British rule in most of Ireland and established the Irish Free State.

Padraic Pearse was one of the signers of the Proclamation