Easter Rising of 1916---Monday, April 24

EASTER MONDAY 1916
The Irish Uprising Remembered

When I was very young, my father,  Joseph Aloysius McDonough 
taught me a lot about Irish History. One of the things that I remember 
most vividly is his story of the failed Easter Rising of 1916. 
He told me that when he heard the news of the defeat,  
surrender and execution of the rebels that it was the 
most heartbreaking experience of his life 
and the saddest day of his life.  
Pop was a young man at the time and his family and the 
Irish community in Ohio were all keenly aware of the 
Irish Cause for Freedom and were strong Fenian Supporters. 
His distant cousin, Thomas McDonagh, had stayed with his family
when he had visited the States on speaking and fund-raising tours.


My Irish Roots go deep, my grandfather Patrick,
an immigrant to America, was a refugee 
from the Irish Famine of the 1840s. 
It is only in the past year or so that I have had the time 
(I always had the inclination) to start reading a lot more.
I am profoundly amazed and grateful that such great men 
of character and intelligence are drawn to the 
causes of revolution. 
American and Irish Heroes All
It happened in America with the likes of Washington, Franklin 
and Jefferson and it was also the case in Ireland. 
The seven signers of the Irish Proclamation were all great men; 
just not quite as lucky as the American Founders. 
I guess that Luck of the Irish skips around a bit.

All of these men were brave, committed, decent, thoughtful 
and willing to risk everything for what they believed was just and right.
We are all lucky that we share this wonderful common heritage.


The fateful events, the spark for Irish Resistance and Liberty
of Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, will live on in the
hearts of the Irish and the Pan Irish Diaspora for all time.
The  signers of the IRISH PROCLAMATION 
were all killed in the Rebellion or
captured and executed.
The signers were:
Thomas J. Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, 
Thomas MacDonagh, Patrick Pearse, 
 Eamonn Ceannt, James Connolly,
and Joseph Mary Plunkett.
All of the patriots died heroically;
James Connolly who was considered the leader, had been wounded
in the Rebellion and captured. After a quick show trial he was tied to
a chair so he could be upright when he was shot.

All of the signers were members of the Irish Military Council which
had planned the Easter Rising of 1916.The honor of signing first
was given to the oldest and most tested member of the group,
Thomas J. Clarke.At the age of 18, Clarke had joined the
Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was born in 1857 and had
served fifteen years in prison for his revolutionary activities.
Clarke fought at the GPO and was taken into custody after the
surrender on April 29. Clarke was held in Kilmainham Gaol
(then known as the NEW JAIL) until his execution by
firing squad on May 3.

Thomas MacDonagh, had surrendered and he regretted
that he had not fought on to the death or escaped. He wrote from
his cell in the last hours of his life to surviving members of his
regiment that they should always try to escape and never surrender
in future battles so that they might live to fight another day.

Padraig (Patrick) Pearse  read the Irish Proclamation
aloud to a small crowd when the Irish Rebels were briefly
in control of the General Post Office. He was captured by
during the British counter attack. Pearse was executed
on May 3.

Sean Mac Diarmada (McDermott) is perhaps the least well known
of the signers. He was a great man and a credit to the Irish Race. 
MacDiarmada was born on February 28, 1883 in Kityclogher in
County Leitrim near the Donegal border, a monument stands there
in his memory. In Belfast, he joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH). 
He rose quickly through the myriad groups dedicated to 
Irish Nationalism and finally in 1910 to a position as managing editor 
of the newspaper "Irish Freedom"
He had met Thomas Clarke in 1908 in Dublin and the two worked
together for "THE CAUSE" till the end of their days.
He was captured at his station at the GPO on April 29 and after a
court-martial on May 9, Mac Diarmada was executed by firing squad
on May 12, 1916 at the age of 33.

Eamonn Ceannt, was born Edward Kent in Galway in 1881.
At a young age, his family moved to Dublin where he joined the
Gaelic League. After joining the Irish Republican Brotherhood
in 1913, he quickly rose to a position of authority. As one of the
ounders of the Military Committee, he was on Secret British Lists
and was considered a threat. He was briefly held at the New Jail
after his capture at the South Dublin Union. He saw and
was responsible for some of the fiercest resistance and fighting
in the Rebellion but he followed order and surrendered when
ordered to do so. He was executed on May 8 in Kilmainham.

Joseph Plunkett  was an Irish Rebel. Mystic and a poet.
He was a devout Catholic and his deep faith was (and still is)
an inspiration to many and to the
justness of the Irish cause for freedom.Plunkett was born in Dublin  
and educated at Belvedere College
and Stonyhurst College. He was editor of the Irish Review and a
co-founder of the Irish Theatre in Dublin. Plunkett was a close
friend to both Thomas MacDonagh and Padraic Pearse,
also noted Irish poets.
He was captured and held by the British army in the Richmond
Barracks. In the morning of May 4, just before his execution
in the courtyard of Kilmainham jail, he married his longtime fiance,
Grace Gifford.  Plunkett was only 28.

Link to the Irish Proclamation:
http://www.iol.ie/~dluby/proclaim.htm

I See His Blood Upon the Rose
by Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887-1916)

I see his blood upon the rose 

And in the stars the glory of His eyes, 

His body gleams amid eternal snows, 

His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower; 

The thunder and the singing of the birds 
Are but His voice
-- and carven by His power 
Rocks are His written words.
All pathways by His feet are worn, 

His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea, 

His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn, 

His cross is every tree.

About this poem by Plunkett.
One of the old Irish Priests at the Brother's of St. Patrick
taught this to my son Mark almost twenty years ago.
That was the first time I had ever heard it; 
it has been a boon
to my faith ever since.

http://www.rc.net/wcc/ireland/plunkt1.htm