"...to seek and to find the past, a lineage, a history, a family built on a flesh and bone foundation."

Sunday, April 24, 2016

24 April 1916: The Easter Rising: 'An Irish Republic has been declared': Commemorating 1916

Today, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, which began on 24 April 1916,  I would like to share with you a select few of the many images I shot of the variety of ways in which the rebellion has been commemorated. All around Dublin — the principal site of the Rising — there have been parades, receptions, wreath laying ceremonies, artists' installations, and banners across buildings, as the Irish people have sought to honour those who fought for Irish freedom.

On Wednesday 30 March I was honoured to attend a private wreath laying ceremony at Arbour Hill,
the burial site of 14 of the executed leaders of the 1916 Rising.
In front of the Joyce Library at UCD hangs this banner bearing the names of all those killed during the Rising.
Even Dublin bus shelters commemorate some of those involved in the Rising, U.C.D.
On South Great St. George's Street, The Mercantile remembers the 7 signatories of the Proclamation.
On South Great St. George's Street, Irish artist Gearoid O’Dea's mural depicting
Countess Markievicz (left), Margaret Pearse (right) and Grace Gifford-Plunkett (bottom)
honours the women who served during the Rising.
The Tapestry of 1916 enwraps the SIPTU building, Eden Quay, honouring James Connolly
and all those who fought for Irish freedom.
On Holy Saturday, 26 March, there was a parade from the SIPTU building in which participants marched in costume to
remember those who fought in the Rising as part of the Irish Citizen Army.
On a banner in Lusk, North County Dublin, Thomas Ashe is quoted and remembered as part of the Fingal Brigade. 
Throughout the area delineating the reserved section for the Easter parade were banners such as this one.
On  Dawson Street, a banner featuring some of the persons
portrayed in the e-book '1916 Portraits and Lives' (go to http://www.ireland.ie/portraits to
download your free copy.) 
On Dame Street a banner featuring Dr. Kathleen Lynn,
Chief medical officer for the Irish Citizen Army during the Rising
(and incidentally a gun runner in the weeks leading up to the Rising).
A banner on Dame Street featuring a photograph of some of the 77 women who served during the Rising.
The original flag of the Irish Republic which was raised over the General Post Office on the morning of 24 April 1916.
On O'Connell Street, the office of Dublin Bus bears an image of the GPO prior to the Rising.
On Benburb Street, this photographic installation created by photographer Steve McCullagh
features 19 out of the 150 Volunteers who served in the Four Courts Battalion (my granduncle Michael Magee's battalion),
pictured together with a living relative or relatives.
In each pairing the past and the present are joined together with a quotation drawn from
the individual Volunteer's respective Bureau of Military History Archives Witness statement.
Seán Heuston, commander at the Mendicity Institution, Usher's Island.
The banner covering the building depicts it as it looked in 1916.
Inside the courtyard of The Four Courts, on Monday 28 March, I joined other members of 1916 Four Courts Battalion families in remembering the service of our respective family members who served with the Four Courts Battalion.
On Parliament Street (at Cork Hill) windows filled with important figures from the Independence movement.
All around Dublin lamp posts bear similar flags marking the centenary.
On Harcourt Street (at St. Stephen's Green) a banner honouring the service of Countess Constance Markievicz.
At Eden Quay the tri-colour flies next to the SIPTU tapestry.
©irisheyesjgg2016.

12 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful photos and history. Your relatives would have been proud to know you were there to honour them. I hope some of the memorials and signs are still there later in the year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pauleen, thanks very much for your comments. Although I would wish for all of these to remain for the entire year of 2016 some have already disappeared; however, there are some scheduled to remain for some time to come.

      The Benburb Street Portraits Installation is scheduled to remain hanging until December of 2016. The SIPTU tapestry is to be taken down in August (a real shame in terms of history, not to mention the fact that the building it is draped over is an eyesore). The original flag of the Irish Republic is part of an extraordinary collection of ephemera in the ongoing exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks entitled ‘Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising’.

      There are also several new permanent commemorations such as the ones at the new visitor's centres at the General Post Office and at Kilmainham Gaol, Padraic Pearse's restored cottage in Inbhear, near Rosmuc Village, County Galway, as well as the new archives building at Cathal Brugha (scheduled to be dedicated shortly), and a controversial Remembrance Wall which was dedicated at Glasnevin (with the names of ALL persons killed during the Rising). This website: http://www.ireland.ie has the official Centenary Programme for all of Ireland. Still lots to see.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  2. Thanks so much for sharing this. Wonderful examples of honoring and remembering history.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephanie, thanks very much for your comments. Dublin city is always alive with history, but even more so now. I am enraptured by it. :-)

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  3. Thank you for sharing the commemorations with us, Jennifer.. you have truly paid homage to your ancestors in a wonderful way.

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    Replies
    1. Chris, thanks very much for your comments. It thrills me to imagine that they might know how much they are thought of, and how often.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  4. Jenn, an impressive array of photos. Thanks for sharing them. Your granny and granduncle must be very proud of you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charlotte, thanks very much for your comments. I'm glad you like the photos. I would wish to make them proud and have them know they are remembered.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  5. Thanks so much Jennifer - these are great photos and help us see this installation through your eyes. What an extraordinary time you must have had being there.

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    Replies
    1. Tessa, thanks very much for your comments. It was indeed an extraordinary time, to see, to meet, to discuss 1916, and all the aspects of it. It seemed as though history was on the lips of everyone I encountered.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  6. Excellent photos Jennifer. Thanks for sharing them. Is there anything about your experiences that surprised you? Catherine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Catherine, thanks very much for your comments. With respect to my attendance at various events, I was surprised in two ways. On one hand I was surprised by persons I met who knew little or nothing about the Rising or their relative(s) role in it, but nonetheless made a pretence to expertise — happy to report these were few and far between. On the other hand I was buoyed by the number of people I met who had delved into the history and had fully researched the role played by their family members in the Rising. Overall, it was a very interesting once-in-a-lifetime experience.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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Cheers, Jennifer

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