Rising leaders on the rails as commuters get to know more about 1916

In 1966, the State renamed 15 stations on the rail network after the executed leaders and volunteers of 1916 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rising.

A further 50 years on, and to mark the centenary of the Rising, Iarnród Éireann has joined with the Royal Irish Academy to enable daily commuters to learn more about the people whose names are celebrated in the stations.

Sixteen display panels were unveiled at Pearse Station in Dublin, each of which will also go on display at the station named after each leader around the network (Pearse Station was named after both Pádraig and William Pearse).

The displays feature a specially commissioned portrait of the leaders by illustrator David Rooney and information about their lives, taken from the recent Royal Irish Academy’s 1916 Portraits and Lives publication.

A QR code is included in each display so that customers can download the chapter of the book about that person.

Family members of the 16 leaders, biographers who contributed to the book, and children from fourth class from the nearby City Quay School were in attendance at the launch.

The Irish rail service also announced details of its other commemoration projects at the event, including plans to bring the stories of the lives of all 42 major figures featured in the RIA’s 1916 Portraits and Lives publication to tens of thousands of daily commuters on the Dart service.