Army of citizens rise to the occasion to remember the 1916 Rising

Thousands turn out to acknowledge role played by ordinary people in pivotal time in the State’s history

On Sunday, the Defence Forces owned the streets but on Easter Monday it was the turn of the citizens’ army to reclaim their territory.

They turned out in extraordinary numbers across the country at ceremonies to mark the moment when the first shot of the 1916 Rising was fired, and at celebrations of the everyday people who lives were changed forever in that pivotal moment of history.