Remembering the 1916 Rising in the regions around the country

As the nation prepares to remember the momentous historic events in Dublin over six days following Easter 1916, it is important that we should not forget those that also occurred around the country during the same pivotal period.

Mon, 21 Mar, 2016 - 00:00

Niall Murray

For while the violence was mostly restricted to the capital, thousands of members of Irish Volunteers, Cumann na mBan and other organisations frustratingly awaited orders to take up arms, as news of the Rising reached the provinces.

In this Rising in the Regions supplement, we tell some of their stories, including those of the bloodshed that occurred in counties Meath, north Dublin and Galway where Volunteers and police faced each other.

The story of what happened in Cork and Kerry is also detailed, explaining the various errors that led to little or no violence taking place. (Except, of course, for the shootout at the Kent farm in north Cork, where the death of police head constable William Rowe led to Thomas Kent becoming the only man other than Roger Casement to be executed outside Dublin in the aftermath of the Easter Rising.)

But what is the relevance of these stories, when the rebellion was largely confined to Dublin?

One of the main reasons that public opinion swung towards the rebels — in the wake of an otherwise unpopular Rising — was that so many Volunteers and others were rounded up by British authorities, imprisoned and held for months without even facing any charges.

In addition to the execution of 15 men in the immediate aftermath, and that of Casement in London later in 1916, the harsh disproportionate treatment of these men and women also helped to bolster the movement that would form the nucleus of the later War of Independence.

For regular updates on news and features (as well as twitter action action as it may have happened 100 years ago) to mark the revolutionary period follow @theirishrev HERE

Many of those who were interned in English and Welsh jails and prison camps had mobilised during Easter week, including some of the 1,000-plus Irish Volunteers who marched through Co Cork on Easter Sunday, 1916.

But for the confusing orders emanating from different figures in Dublin, and for the capture of thousands of guns shipped from Germany to Co Kerry, the history of 1916 might be much, much different.

The stories that are told in the Rising in the Regions only give part of the picture of what happened outside Dublin, focusing on the centres of some of the main episodes.

We hope that through those stories, public understanding of those events — and the potential outcomes, had circumstances been different — will be increased; and that the history of Easter 1916 will be seen as a national one.

It is a history that deserves to be told — and shared — in full.

1916 centenary events around the regions

Many State ceremonies and community events in the coming weeks will mark the various significant occurrences around Ireland in 1916, which are remembered in the following pages. These are just some of those events:

Easter Sunday, March 27

Macroom: The annual Easter commemoration at 2.30pm will be preceded by a parade through the town to the square, including relatives of members of the 7th and 8th battalions of the Irish Volunteers/IRA which included Macroom and the surrounding district. This will mark the 100th year since Cork city and county Volunteers marched to Macroom on what was to have been part of the exercise to collect German guns that were to have been landed in Kerry (see page 16).

Easter Monday, March 28

Synchronised wreath-laying ceremonies will take place in Ashbourne, Co Meath; Athenry, Co Galway; Cork city; and Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. These will happen at 1.15pm, the time the first shots of the Easter Rising took place on Easter Monday, 1916.

Ashbourne: Beginning at 10.45am at Rathcross, there will be a re-enactment of the Battle of Ashbourne (see page 22). A State ceremonial event begins at 12.15pm, including the wreath-laying at the monument at Rathcross, and the unveiling of a memorial plaque. (Tickets for this event have already been allocated, due to space restrictions.)

Athenry: The State ceremonial event will be preceded by the planting of seven oak trees at Athenry Community Park at 10am. At 12.25pm, representatives of each of Co Galway’s GAA clubs will parade from Kenny Park to the Arch. The formal State ceremony in the community park will include music and poetry, and will culminate in a wreath-laying ceremony at 1.15pm, followed by the National Anthem and raising of the National Flag.

Cork City: Ahead of the 12pm beginning of the State ceremonial programme, the public are invited to assemble at Grand Parade for 11.45am, where live music will be performed by the Defence Forces, Peadar Ó Riada and Cór Chúil Aodha. Following the official events - to include orations by Cork’s city and county mayors (Chris O’Leary and John Paul O’Shea), reading of the Proclamation and wreath-laying at the National Monument - a showcase of Irish music will continue from 1.30pm to 2.30pm.

Enniscorthy: A 1916 Centenary Parade leaves St Aidan’s Cathedral at 11.30am for the Seamus Rafter Statue in Abbey Square. It will pause at the Athenaeum for the raising of the Enniscorthy 1916 Battalion Flag and a minute’s silence. The State commemoration ceremony begins at 12.30pm, and the wreath-laying takes place at 1.15pm. During the closing notes of the Reveille, there will be an Air Corps fly-past. The event continues until aroudn 3.15pm, with songs commissioned by Wexford County Council for 2016, the reading of a commissioned poem, and a battle re-enactment.

Thursday, April 21

Co Kerry: The first casualties of the Rising, four men who died at Ballykissane pier, Killorglin (see page 11) will be commemorated there at 8am.

At noon, a formal State ceremonial commemoration at Banna Strand will be preceded by readings and a cultural element. The ceremony will feature a reading of Casement’s speech, and a performance by the National Folk Choir from Siamsa Tíre.

Both events are open to the public but only a small number of people can be accommodated at Ballykissane Pier.

Saturday, April 23

Co Cork: Part of the march to Macroom by the Irish Volunteers’ Cork Brigade (see page 16) will be re-enacted on the centenary date of Easter Sunday, 1916.

Walkers will follow a route from Bandon to Béal na Bláth, and on to Kilmurry village - following the route taken by companies in the Bandon battalion on the same date 100 years earlier. They will be led into the village by Tom Hales, whose father (also Tom) led the Bandon battalion on that date, followed by reading of the Proclamation by a descendant of Michael Galvin, an IRA Volunteer killed in the Lissarda ambush on August 22, 1920.

The group will be joined on the last stages of the walk by members of Cumann Seanchais na Banndan (Bandon Local History Society) and Kilmurry Historical and Archaeological Association, which will offer a preview of its new Independence Museum Kilmurry.

Its collection includes artefacts related to 1916, the War of Independence and Civil War - including major events in the parish like the 1922 Béal na Bláth ambush in which Michael Collins was killed (exactly two years after the Lissarda ambush) and items relating to Terence MacSwiney, Mid-Cork TD and Lord Mayor of Cork with family connections in the area and who died on hunger strike in October 1920.