Revolution!

Our first stop on the Dublin history tour was the Kilmainham Gaol. For me, this site was the most moving. The Goal has a strong connection to the April 24, 1916 Easter Rising, which was Ireland’s bid to finally separate itself from British rule. As we entered a stone courtyard within the stone walls of the Goal, the tour guide related how the Kilmainham Gaol was intimately tied to the Easter Rising. He pointed to one side of the courtyard; it was here that the British executed the men and women convicted for participating in the Easter Rising.  

[i]

On April 24, 1916, the Irish Brotherhood published the Proclamation of the Republic declaring “To the people of Ireland: Irishmen And Irishwomen: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.”[ii] The Proclamation was similar to a document, the Declaration of Independence, written 140 years earlier to create an independent government for the United States. In both instances, men of conviction signed a document, the 1916 Proclamation of the Republic and the 1776 Declaration of Independence, to effectively create an independent government separate from the British rule. By signing the document, they wanted to create a better life for their countrymen through self-governance. Additionally, by signing the document, all of the men signed their death warrants for standing in defiance of the Crown.

This is where the similarities end: the Easter Rising of 1916 ended very differently than the American Revolution of 1776. The British squashed the Easter Rising in 6 days. The seven authors of the Proclamation were executed within 19 days of the beginning of the Easter Rising. Six of the authors, Thomas J. Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, P. H. Pearse, Éamonn Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett, were stood against the stone walls of the Kilmainham Gaol courtyard and shot. The seventh author, James Connolly was shot on the opposite side of the courtyard while he was tied to a chair due the fact that he shattered his ankle during the fight.

This could have been the fate of the planners of the American Revolution and authors of the Declaration of Independence. They lived to fight the British for 8 years and ultimately win the independence for the United States of America. It was this point that struck me so strongly. The desire for self-governance is one that resonates within us all. It is this desire motivates our leaders to make great sacrifices in the name of the greater good for their countrymen and women.

by Ammy George

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[i] Kilmainham Gaol Courtyard. Photo by http://snowbirdjournal.com/upload/2481/july2012/Courtyard_at_Kilmainham_Goal.jpg

[ii] Primary Documents - Proclamation of the Irish Republic, 24 April 1916. http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/irishproclamation1916.htm