Capital resplendent as Dublin’s denizens remember Rising
Sackville Street in Dublin looked resplendent as ladies donned the latest gowns and gentlemen their bowler hats to parade graciously in glorious sunshine.
The pity of it was that the naval hero Admiral Lord Nelson, who had stood sentinel over the city’s main thoroughfare since 1808, was not there to watch over these latter-day pillars of the community in all their gay and colourful splendour.
All forms of motorised transport as well as horse-drawn carriages were banned on what is now O’Connell Street as thousands gathered for RTÉ’s ‘Road to the Rising’ commemoration.
A mobile cinema, a steam train and a vintage carousel were among the attractions that reflected the lives of Dubliners 100 years ago.
Highlights of the day included an Edwardian stage presentation by some of Ireland’s best known singers, musicians and bands. Performers included Jack L, The High Kings, and the Rathmines & Rathgar Musical Society.
Helping to reel back the years was a vintage carousel and an Edwardian wedding as well as silent movies from the O’Kalem Film company.
There was also the opportunity to watch the full series of Insurrection at Liberty Hall Theatre. This groundbreaking Telefís Éireann drama told the story of the Rising as it might have unfolded had television existed in 1916. It had not been shown for almost 50 years.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, described the Road to the Rising as a wonderful platform allowing Irish people to approach the events of 1916 in an interesting and engaging way. “It is also an excellent lead into the launch of Ireland 2016, the national initiative to mark the Centenary of the Easter Rising”, she said.
At the GPO, the National Library’s team of archivists and historians invited the public to bring along items of interest and family memorabilia connected with the Rising.
The chief executive of An Post, Donal Connell, said it was fitting that the GPO was central to proceedings as it was over Easter weekend in 1916.
Curated by Mark Duncan and Dr Paul Rouse of Century Ireland, an on-street photography exhibition was held to show the social context of Dublin 100 years ago.
It was a time of great turmoil for a city at war and on the edge of rebellion. The strains of the Great War had worsened social and political divides, with thousands of Dubliners dying in the trenches while their families endured appalling poverty at home, leading to a rise in nationalism and socialism.
“There were other tensions, too,” says Century Ireland, the online newspaper that tells the story of the events of Irish life a century ago. “Women sought the right to vote, temperance campaigners fought to curb the abuse of alcohol in a city awash with drink, and Gaelic revivalists attempted to promote Irish culture in the shadow cast by Empire.”
The Road to the Rising was organised in partnership with An Post, Dublin City Council and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
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