Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Recently discovered letters show that Tom Barry, the IRA guerrilla leader in the War of Independence, candidly declined to appear at the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, due to him having fought for the British Army at the time.

A founder actress  of the Abbey Theatre, Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh spent Easter 1916 in Jacob’s Biscuit Factory with Tom MacDonagh, writes her grandnephew Dave Kenny

The naval ship LÉ Aisling is in the bay, the Irish army will be on manoeuvres, and the strains of ‘Lonely Banna Strand’ are ringing out across Tralee Bay in one of the biggest State commemorations outside of Dublin of events associated with 1916.

WHEN you’re a scriptwriter whose latest TV series is an irreverent take on the 1916 Rising, it throws you a little when you meet your director for the first time and realise he’s a descendant of one of the most celebrated fighters to die at the GPO.

A Wexford ICA member, who has just published her third book of poetry, wrote two poems especially for the Easter Rising 1916 commemoration and read them recently at An Grianán.

Carlowman Miceál Ua hAnnracáin was certain only armed rebellion would see the British Empire leave, writes Conor Kostick

While entertaining Irish friends in Dublin recently (over on holiday from the UK) one pointed out to me how far behind we are here, and the cost of living in ‘Southern Ireland’. 

1916 letter provides a link to only Cork man killed in the Rising, writes Niall Murray

Easter Saturday, 1916.

“The true history of a passionate period,” wrote PS O’Hegarty in The Victory of Sinn Féin in 1924, “cannot be written by any contemporary. We are all too near it.”

Over 600 rebels mobilised in the western county, but, with no arms nor reinforcements arriving, they had no choice but to reject the urgings of their leader Liam Mellows and disband, writes Conor McNamara

Fenit Harbour in Kerry was deemed the best place to land guns from the German ships, and it was decided that the rail network would be the best means of distribution of the weapons in the South-west, says Niall Murray

OF THE companies that marched to Mount Leader outside Millstreet, Rathduane was the largest; all its 29 members at Easter 1916 turned out.

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.

Bagpipes owned by murdered Lord Mayor of Cork Tomás MacCurtain will be played for the first time in almost a century today during a ceremony to honour his role in the 1916 Rising.

We’ll need our humour and a balanced reading of our history this Easter to negotiate a path through the treacherous waters of commemoration. Let’s hope we can also make room for the voices of the children of the centenary of the Rising, writes Clodagh Finn.

On Easter Saturday 1916, Tom Clifford sat down in his room in 4 Gardiner St to write a letter to his brother Dan. The letter has recently been discovered by their niece, Carmel Clifford.

John A Murphy suggests there is far less to the Proclamation of the Republic than is often

Mick O’Dea is steeped in the traditions and lore of the turbulent period around Easter 1916, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

No one, not the IRA, not Sinn Féin, not Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael, nor any party or organisation, owns or has a monopoly on the Rising or its legacy, writes Danny Morrison.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

One of the most seminal engagements of the 1916 Rising is being brought to life as a virtual experience so people can experience the Battle of Mount St Bridge as never before.

THERE were almost as many scrums at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska yesterday as there were during a game at the Rugby World Cup.

Children in a community with strong links to the Irish Volunteers in Easter 1916 were among the first in Cork to receive the national flag from Defence Forces personnel.

The drafting and printing of the Proclamation of Independence, along with violence outside Dublin and the ‘quiet heroes’ of the Rising, are among aspects of Easter 1916 to be marked in a major centenary exhibition at the National Museum next year.

Celebrations of the 1916 Easter Rising will include a memorial to the British who died trying to crush the rebellion in a bid to make events more inclusive.

THE Government will today publish the long-awaited details of how it proposes to officially mark the 1916 Easter Rising.

A series of meetings have been held in New York to allay concerns among some Irish Americans regarding the Government’s 1916 centenary commemorations.

The life and death of Fenian Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa will be marked in his native West Cork this summer, a century after his Dublin funeral proved a rallying cry for the 1916 Rising.

A book by RTÉ’s Joe Duffy on the children who died during the 1916 Easter Rising will be published later this year.

Suzanne Harrington asks whose genius idea was it to cut children’s books while still funding animal suffering?

Still got a pressie to buy or are you expecting some vouchers on Christmas Day? Richard Fitzpatrick picks the best book of the year in 10 different genres

In 1979 I recall, as a young boy, being introduced by my grandparents to a friend who had an interest in CB radio and electronics.

The former taoiseach does no service to the memory of the Irish dead of World War One by denigrating the men and women of 1916, writes Gerry Adams

A CLOSE friend’s warning to Michael Collins not to go on that ill-fated visit to West Cork, and a lack of bitterness in ex-taoiseach Sean Lemass following the death of his brother in the Civil War — these are just some of the insights provided in a new series of interviews relating to the struggle for independence.

As budget speeches go, it was a workaday effort from Finance Minister Michael Noonan to a nation jaded by austerity.