Ireland in Schools Blackpool Pilot Scheme Learning & Achievement, CYPD National Secondary Strategy - Thinking Skills/Leading in Learning Also Assessment for Learning Fighting for whom - 1916? The Easter Rising & the Battle of the Somme by Jason Brierley St George s Church of England High School Contents PowerPoint presentation handout Lesson plans 1. What were the origins of the Easter Rising? 2. For whom should I fight? An Irishman s dilemma in 1916 3. Who was a friend & who was a foe in Ireland in 1916? 4. Michael Collins - hero or villain? Resources, worksheets, etc. Homework exercise sources recruitment posters Statement cards and graphic organiser for relational diagram exercise Extended writing exercise Differentiated assessment task with topic-specific level descriptors Evaluation of assessment task for peer assessment Appendix Ireland & the World War I Recent writing on Ireland & the World War I The Easter Rising Textbook Modern Minds by D. Peaple & M. Gorman, Pearson Schools, 0-58229-824-5
PowerPoint introduction Fighting for whom - 1916? The Easter Rising & The Battle of the Somme REASONS WHY you should join The Irish Citizen Army BECAUSE It pledges its members to work for, organise for, drill for and fight for an Independent Ireland. BECAUSE It places its reliance upon the only class that never betrayed Ireland - the Irish Working Class. BECAUSE Having a definite aim to work for there is no fear of it being paralysed in the moment of action by divisions in its Executive Body. BECAUSE It teaches that the sole right of ownership of Ireland is vested in the people of Ireland, and that the full right of ownership may, and ought to be enforced by any and all means that God hath put within the power of man. BECAUSE It works in harmony with the Labour and true Nationalist Movements and thus embraces all that makes for Social Welfare and National Dignity. Companies Wanted in Every District RECRUITS WANTED EVERY HOUR Apply for further information, Secretary, Citizen Army, Liberty Hall, Dublin Sir Edward Carson (1854-1935) John Redmond (1856-1918) Patrick Pearse (1879-1916) He led the Ulster Unionist party from 1910 until 1921. He wanted Ireland to stay a part of the United Kingdom. He did not want Ireland to have a parliament of its own. He led the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 until 1918. He wanted Ireland to have Home Rule with its own parliament but to remain part of the United Kingdom. He led the Irish rebels in 1916. He wanted Ireland to be totally separated from Britain and the British empire and was prepared to die for his beliefs. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 2
Lesson 1: What were the origins of the Easter Rising? At the end of this lesson you will: 1. Know what the causes of the Easter Rising were. 2. Understand the difference between Irish Unionists and Nationalist. 3. Be able to identify long-term and short-term causes and consequences Key Words Nationalists; Republic; Unionist; Catholic; Protestant; Irish Volunteers; IRA; Home Rule; interpretations Starter: Why might an Iraqi attempt to kill an American soldier in Iraq? Task 1: Knowledge & Understanding Read pages 44 & 45 of Modern Minds. 1. What is the difference between a Nationalist and a Unionist? 2. Look at what Michael Collins was taught as a child. Why would he hate the English? Task 2: Application & Analysis Task 2a 1. Why did World War 1 split the Irish? 2. Who do you think was more likely to volunteer to fight, a Unionist or a Nationalist? Give a reason for your answer. 3. Why did Michael Collins not fight for Britain in World War 1? Task 2b 4. Make a list of the reasons why the Easter Rising took place. 5. Which reasons are long term and which reasons are short term? Task 3: Synthesis & Evaluation How successful was the Easter Rising? The Easter Rising of 1916 was... The Rising ended when... The short-term the Easter Rising of 1916 was/was not successful because... However, in the long-term the Rising was/was not successful because... Therefore, overall the Rising should be considered as being successful/unsuccessful because... Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 3
Plenary: From this lesson you should now: 1. Know what the causes of the Easter Rising were. 2. Understand the difference between Irish Unionists and Nationalist. 3. Be able to identify long-term and short-term causes and consequences. Which was the most effective weapon? Gas or Tanks? Homework 1. Write a paragraph describing the Easter Rising from a Nationalist point of view. 2 Write a paragraph describing the Easter Rising from a Unionist point of view. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 4
Lesson 2: For whom should I fight? An Irishman s dilemma in 1916 At the end of this lesson you will: 1. Know which armies Irishmen were encouraged to join. 2. Understand the reasons for joining these armies. 3. Be able to analyse historical sources. Key Words Combatants; Nationalists; Republic; Unionist; Catholic; Protestant; Irish Volunteers; IRA; Home Rule; interpretations. Starter: 1. When was the Easter Rising? 2. Where the rebels Protestants or Catholics? 3. Were the rebels Nationalists or Unionists? Task 1: Application & Analysis 1. What reasons are given for Irishmen to join the British Army? 2. What emotions are the recruitment posters encouraging? Task 2: Application & Analysis 1. What reasons are given for Irishmen to join the Irish Citizen Army? 2. What emotions are the recruitment posters encouraging? Task 3: Application & Analysis 1. If you saw these posters what questions would you want answering before you joined either army? 2. Based upon what you know about events in Ireland, which army would you have joined if you were an Irishman? 1. Look at the information about each of the Irish leaders. Sir Edward Carson John Redmond Patrick Pearse Who would they have encouraged their supporters to fight for: the British Army or the Irish Volunteers/Citizens Army? 2. Now complete the following table: Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 5
Army Leaders Aims Irish Volunteers Citizen Army UVF Plenary: From this lesson you should now: 1. Know which armies Irishmen were encouraged to join. 2. Understand the reasons for joining these armies. 3. Be able to analyse historical sources. Homework Complete work sheet on recruitment posters. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 6
Lesson 3: Who was friend and who was foe in Ireland in 1916? At the end of this lesson you will: 1. Know who was fighting in Ireland in 1916. 2. Understand the similarities and difference between the combatants. 3. Be able to produce a faction account of how different the combatants were. Key Words Combatants; Nationalists; Republic; Unionist; Catholic; Protestant; Irish Volunteers; IRA; Home Rule; interpretations. Starter: 1. Which armies did Irishmen join in World War 1? 2. Why did Irishmen join these armies? Task 1: Knowledge & Understanding 1. What are the main things that you can see in the pictures? 2. What similarities and differences can you see in the two pictures? Task 2: Application & Analysis - Using the relational diagram Using the statement cards, place each on your diagram in the appropriate place. Each card could go in one, two or all three circles. Remember these are your opinions only. Task 3: Synthesis & Evaluation Write a story that involves at least three characters, whose lives are interlinked e.g. they are friends or relatives. One who fights with the Ulster Division in France, on with the Connaught Rangers in France and an Irish Volunteer who takes part in the Easter Rising. Remember: Their stories must be interconnected. The story must take place in 1916, between March and July. Include some background about their connections. Include how they are affected by the others actions. The story should be between: 500-1000 words long. Plenary: From this lesson you should now: 1. Know who was fighting in Ireland in 1916. 2. Understand the similarities and difference between the combatants. 3. Be able to produce a faction account of how different the combatants were. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 7
Lesson 4: Michael Collins - Hero or Villain? (Core) At the end of this lesson you will: 1. Know how the actions of Michael Collins have been interpreted. 2. Understand why the actions of Collins have been understood in different ways. 3. Be able to explain the actions and interpretations of Collins. Key Words Combatants; Nationalists; Republic; Unionist; Catholic; Protestant; Irish Volunteers; IRA; Home Rule; interpretations. Starter: Quick quiz. Task 1: Knowledge & Understanding Read The war of independence on pages 49. 1. What did Sinn Fein want? 2. What was the Dail? 3. Who was Eamon de Valera? 4. What did Michael Collins do to help create an Irish Republic? Give at least 5 examples. Read The war of independence on page 50 5. Who were the Black and Tans? 6. What happened on Bloody Sunday? 7. What is myth making? 8. Complete the two THINK questions on page 50. Task 2: Knowledge and Understanding Read The death warrant on pages 51 & 52. 9. Who was David Lloyd George? 10. What was David Lloyd George s plan for Ireland? 11. When did Collins agree to Lloyd George s plan? 12. Write a paragraph explain explaining what Collins agreed to. 13. What was Collins afraid of after signing the treaty? 14. What did de Valera think about what Collins had agreed? 15. What happened to Collins in 1921? 16. When did Ireland become completely free from Britain? Task 3: Knowledge & Understanding 1. Complete the following table: Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 8
Reactions of the Nationalists to Reactions of the Unionists to Irish Republican Army The Black & Tans Task 4: Application & Analysis: Look at each part of the agreement. 1. Who would be happy with each part? 2. Who would be unhappy with each part? 3. What interpretations are there of Michael Collins? 4. Why do people have these interpretations of Michael Collins? Homework Complete your story about three people whose lives are interlinked, they could be friends or relations. Remember that their stories must be interconnected. Plenary: From this lesson you should now: 1. Know how the actions of Michael Collins have been interpreted. 2. Understand why the actions of Collins have been understood in different ways. 3. Be able to explain the actions and interpretations of Collins. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 9
Irish recruitment Lesson 2, tasks 1-3 Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4 Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 10
Using a relational diagram Lesson 2, task 2 The diagram that you have been provided with is a triple Venn diagram. We call this a relational diagram because it shows how people, events etc are related. You have also been provided with a set of statement cards, and you are asked to place them on the diagram as you think appropriate. Each card could possibly be placed in one, two or all three circles. When you wish to place a card into more than one circle, it goes into the overlapping sections. Remember that these are your opinions only. Homework task 1. Which poster(s) are encouraging people to fight for the British Army? Explain your choice. 2. Which poster(s) are encouraging people not to fight for the British Army? Explain your choice. 3. Did a Nationalist or Unionist produce Source 1? Explain your choice. 4. Sinn Fein produced source 4, the face belongs to John Redmond the leader of the Irish Nationalist. Why do you think that the skeletons are pointing at Redmond? What is Sin Fein s opinion of Redmond? Does Sinn Fein support Britain in the war? Explain your answer. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 11
Ulster Division Irish Volunteers Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 12 Connaught Rangers
Lesson 2, task 2 1. I want freedom for my country. 2. I am fighting for Ireland. 3. I am fighting for my King and country. 4. I am a Protestant 5. My fellow soldiers were uniformed and disciplined. 6. I am a Catholic. 7. By that time we were all lying flat on the ground... (The) whole house started to fall apart in the air. 8. He come from Southern Ireland, they had a terrible job there in 1916, didn t they?... When he had his leave from France he daren t go home, you know... He told us that he would be killed if he went home, being in the British Army, you see. 9. I wondered what the devil we had got into... all the chaps who were already there, well, they looked like tramps, all plastered with filth and dirt, and unshaven. 10. Yet, all was not in vain. It is no new thing for the sons of Ireland to perish [die] in a (hopeless) and fruitless struggle. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 13
11. At times they were jeered at and spat upon by the (Dublin) crowds. 12. A traitor to his country and a (criminal) in his soul. 13....these very men of the Norfolks (a British regiment) had quitted Belfast... owing to the menace in their midst of the very men who were doing them (the guard of) honour now. 14. Now Billy lies only where the red Flanders poppy, In the wildest profusion paints the field of the brave, No piper recalling the deeds all forgotten, For Billy McFadzean has no known grave. 15. (This) is undertaken in defence of the highest principles of religion and morality and right, and it would be a disgrace for ever to our country. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 14
Teacher s notes on cards Lesson 2, task 2 7. Private Victor Packer, Royal Irish Fusiliers, quoted in M. Arthur, Forgotten Voices, of the Great War, Ted Smart, London, 2003, pp 156. 8. Private Arthur Baxter, 51st Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps, quoted in M. Arthur, Forgotten Voices, of the Great War, Ted Smart, London, 2003, pp.162. 9. Private Victor Packer, Royal Irish Fusiliers, quoted in M. Arthur, Forgotten Voices, of the Great War, Ted Smart, London, 2003, pp.83. 10. A Unionist from County Dublin, reflecting that his division, the 10th Irish, had been shattered in a week in 1916. 11. J. Traynor & E. Wlimot, Britain in the 20th Century World, Thomas Nelson & Sons, Surrey, 1994. 12. Sinn Fein, quoted in R. Holmes, Tommy, Harper Collins, London, 2004 p.152 13. Frank Crozier from the UVF, quoted in R. Holmes, Tommy, Harper Collins, London, 2004 p.154 14. From Billy McFadzean a song sung about a UVF volunteer who was awarded the VC posthumously at the Somme. 15. John Redmond, nationalist leader, quoted in R. Holmes, Tommy, Harper Collins, London, 2004 p.152 Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 15
Extended writing Lesson 3, task 3 You are to write a story that involves at least three characters, whose lives are interlinked e.g. they are friends or relatives. One character is a Unionist who fights with the Ulster Division in France. One a Catholic fighting with the Connaught Rangers in France. And a Nationalist Irish Volunteer who takes part in the Easter Rising. The content of your story 1. Your story should start in 1914 with each knowing each other, and explaining their hopes for Ireland. 2. Your main part should be about the events in 1916 and the reactions of each to what the others are doing. E.g. How would the Unionist feel about the Irish Volunteer. 3. The end of your story should be in the summer of 1916 when the Easter Rising and Battle of the Somme have taken place. Remember: Their stories must be interconnected. The story must take place in 1916, between March and July. Include some background about their connections. Include how they are affected by the others actions. The story should be between: 500-800 words long. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 16
Why are there different interpretations of Michael Collins? Assessment Starter: Why do people have different opinions? Key Words Nationalists; Republic; Unionist; Catholic; Protestant; Irish Volunteers; IRA; Home Rule; interpretations. At the end of this lesson you will: 1. Know how the actions of Michael Collins have been interpreted. 2. Understand why the actions of Collins have been understood in different ways. 3. Be able to complete the assessment on Michael Collins. Task 1: Knowledge & Understanding Discuss why people have different opinions/ interpretations of events. Recap how Michael Collins has been interpreted. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 17
Level Description 2 I can identify different interpretations of Michael Collins. 3 I can give examples of facts and opinions about Michael Collins. 4 I can give examples of different interpretations of Michael Collins; with examples e.g. Some sources claim that Michael Collins was a... because... for example... However other sources claim Michael Collins was a... because... for example... 5 I can suggest reasons for the different interpretations of Cromwell, giving examples. The interpretations of Michael Collins are different because... for example... 6 I can explain different interpretations of Michael Collins giving examples to support my answers. 7 I can explain how the background of the authors can affect their interpretation of Michael Collins. 8 I can analyse and explain different interpretations of Michael Collins and beginning to evaluate them (decide which is the most accurate and why). Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 18
Task 2: Application & Analysis Complete the following assessment questions. Use lined paper Put the title, date and your name on the sheet. A. MICHAEL COLLINS ASSESSMENT: CORE 1. Using the sources make a list of the facts about Michael Collins and a list of opinions about him. (Level 3) 2. The facts and opinions about Michael Collins demonstrate that there are two interpretations of Collins and his actions. What are these two interpretations? (Level 4) 3. Using the evidence give examples to support these two interpretations of Michael Collins and his actions. (Level 4) 4. Explain why there are different interpretations of Michael Collins and his actions. (Levels 5-7) 5. In agreeing to the partition of Ireland Collins was a traitor to his country. How accurate an interpretation of Collins s actions is this statement? Use the sources provided and your own knowledge Ireland s history. (Level 5-8) Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 19
B. Michael Collins Assessment: Foundation 1. Using the sources make a list of the facts about Michael Collins and a list of opinions about him. Facts about Michael Collins Points of view about Michael Collins (Level 3) 2. There are two interpretations of Michael Collins and his actions. The first is that he was a hero who helped gain independence for Ireland; the second is that he was a traitor who allowed the British to partition (split) Ireland in two. Using the evidence give examples to support these two interpretations of Collins and his actions. Michael Collins was a hero Michael Collins was a traitor (Level 4) 3. Explain why there are different interpretations of Collins and his actions. Set out your answer like this: Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 20
There are two interpretations of Michael Collins. The first is... The second is... Some people believe the first interpretation because... However, others believe the second interpretation because... From the evidence, I believe that Collins was... because... (Level 5) Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 21
Sources Why are there different interpretations of Michael Collins? FOUNDATION Source 1 Across the country, the IRA split. Many followed Collins, accepting that the Treaty gave the Ireland the first stage in its freedom. Source 4 Some have argued that de Valera deliberately sent Collins to n the treaty, knowing that if he came back with an unacceptable treaty, it would seriously damage the reputation of Collins and remove any threat he may have been to Valera. British School s website Source 7 Michael Collins, one of the greatest military and political leaders in Irish History was born in Woodfield, Clonakilty in 1890. Clonakilty Council Source 9 Collins achievements were many: Source 2 Source 5 Collins remains in the public memory as the young man, barely thirty, who delivered a republic, then a treaty, who inspired a generation, and who died before his time as his country became a state. He helped defeat the British He set up an intelligence network the British Empires. He helped negotiate a treaty whic Ireland the first stepping stone to become a Republic Oversaw Ireland s turbulent trans democracy. His achievements were, however, not without price. Collins armed both those for and those against the Treaty in the North to defend the Catholic population, but by using violence against the Treaty in the North, he helped encourage fighting in the South against the treaty. He started the bloody War of Independence against the British The treaty deal brought back frorr London split the country into two I opposing halves and plunged the into... a traumatic civil war. An American website Source 6 Source 8 Source 3 Countess Markievicz (a leader of the Citizen Army) openly called Collins a traitor to the cause. British School s website There were many in the south who believed that Collins had betrayed the republican movement. These people, including de Valera, wanted an independent and united Ireland. Some believed that Collins had sold out to the British government. British School s website British School s website Think - what have I got for Ireland? Something which she has wanted these past seven hundred years. Will anyone be satisfied at the bargain? Will anyone? I tell you this; early this morning I signed my death warrant. Michael Collins, shortly before his assassination on 22 August 1922 Source 10 (On the 21 November 1920-Bloody Sunday), in the early hours of the morning Collins sent his men to break into the homes or hotel rooms of fourteen British (spies) and to kill them in cold blood. Within hour the Black and Tans reacted (by killing twelve spectators and injuring sixty at a Gaelic football match). Adapted from a school textbook Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 22
Sources Why are there different interpretations of Michael Collins? HIGHER Source 1 Across the country, the IRA split. Many followed Collins, accepting that the Treaty gave the Ireland the first stage in its freedom. Source 4 Some have argued that de Valera deliberately sent Collins to negotiate the treaty, knowing that if he came back with an unacceptable treaty, it would seriously damage the reputation of Collins and weaken whatever political kudos he had in Ireland -t herefore removing any potential threat he may have been to de Valera at a political level. British School s website Source 7 Few seemed to realise that Collins was not a politician and that he had been put into a situation in which he had no experience of what to do (when negotiating the treaty). He was up against British politicians who were experienced in delicate negotiations. British School s website Source 10 Source 2 Collins made every effort to avoid a civil war... (However) in a controversial move, he armed both pro- and anti-treaty IRA members in the North to defend the Catholic population, but by using violence against the Treaty in the North, he promoted armed resistance in the South against the treaty. Source 5 Collins remains in the public memory as the young man, barely thirty, who delivered a republic, then a treaty, who inspired a generation, and who died before his time as his country became a state. Source 8 Think - what have I got for Ireland? Something which she has wanted these past seven hundred years. Will anyone be satisfied at the bargain? Will anyone? I tell you this; early this morning I signed my death warrant. Michael Collins, shortly before his assassination on 22 August 1922 Michael Collins, one of the greatest military and political leaders in Irish History was born in Woodfield, Clonakilty in 1890. Source 3 Countess Markievicz (a leader of the Citizen Army) openly called Collins a traitor to the cause. British School s website Source 6 There were many in the south who believed that Collins had betrayed the republican movement. These people, including de Valera, wanted an independent and united Ireland. Some believed that Collins had sold out to the British government. British School s website Source 9 The rumours (that Collins had affairs with two important women with connections with the British government) were, however, used against him by opponents during the Civil War, to suggest that one or both had used Collins affections to sway him in favour of the Treaty. From an Irish website Source 11 Collins achievements were many: he helped fight the British to a stalemate by changing the rules of warfare and setting up an intelligence network to rival the Empire s. He helped negotiate a treaty which gave Ireland the first stepping stone to become a Republic and oversaw Ireland s turbulent transition to democracy. His achievements were, however, not without a price. He started the bloody War of Independence against the British and the treaty deal brought back from London split the country into two fiercely opposing halves and plunged the country into...a traumatic civil war. Source 12 (On the 21 November 1920-Bloody Sunday), in the early hours of the morning Collins sent his men to break into the homes or hotel rooms of fourteen British (spies) and to kill them in cold blood. Within hour the Black and Tans reacted (by killing twelve spectators and injuring sixty at a Gaelic football match). Adapted from a school textbook Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 23
Appendix Ireland & World War I The Oxford Companion to Irish History edited by S.J. Connolly, OUP, 1998, 1-19866-240-8, 195-6 At the beginning of the war (1914-18) the threat of civil conflict in the summer of 1914 was defused when both John Redmond (leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, the constitutional nationalists) and Edward Carson (leader of the Ulster Unionist opposition of Home Rule) pledged their respective followers to support the British imperial war effort. Redmond s call to nationalists to support gallant (and Catholic) little Belgium was rejected only by a small minority of the Irish Volunteers. Many thousands of Volunteers joined the two predominantly Catholic and nationalist Irish divisions: the 10th and the 16th. In the north, 30,000 UVF men joined up virtually en masse to form the 36th (Ulster) Division. After an initial surge at the start of the war, enlistments fell off sharply, though Irishmen continued to join up until the very end - almost 10,000 men, for example, in the last three months of the conflict. Although Protestants recruited in greater numbers proportionately than Catholics, men - Catholics and Protestants - in industrialized Ulster as a whole were more likely to enlist than those from the rest of Ireland. Urban areas returned more soldiers than rural, and the poorest recruiting area was Mayo. In all some 206,000 men from Ireland served during the war, of whom about 30,000 died. Even taking into account the very many emigrant Irish who joined up in England and elsewhere estimates of up to 500,000 Irish recruits are grossly inflated. The most enduring legacy of the Irish military involvement in the war came from the Ulster Division s part in the battle of the Somme, which began on 1 July 1916. In the first two days of the battle the division suffered over 5,000 casualties, a blood sacrifice which came to represent for unionists a conclusive demonstration of Ulster s unshakeable loyalty to the Union. The 16th (Irish) Division also fought on the Somme, though not until September 1916, and both divisions remained on the western front in France for the remainder of the war. The 10th Division saw action at Gallipoli, where it suffered heavy losses at Suvla Bay (August 1915), and later went on to serve in Salonika and Palestine. At home the First World War provided the opportunity for the republican rising of 1916, as well as a suitably violent model for political action. Wartime pressures also help to explain the draconian government response to the rising, which contributed to the subsequent emergence of Sinn Fein. When, in response to a manpower crisis on the western front, London threatened to impose conscription on Ireland in 1918, a broad popular coalition of nationalists and the Catholic church combined to resist it. In doing so Sinn Fein emerged as the leading nationalist political party. The war in general stimulated the Irish economy. There was a heightened demand for agricultural products - food for troops and forage for animals - which brought considerable prosperity to the farming community, and in turn contributed to the relative unwillingness of young men in rural areas to enlist. The textile industry in the north was kept busy supplying military needs, as were shipbuilding and engineering concerns. Activity in some luxury trades and non-essential Irish industries, such as brewing and distilling, fell away during the war. The absence of conscription in Ireland meant that a large pool of male labour remained available throughout and that, unlike in Great Britain, comparatively few women were drawn into general employment. Some females, nevertheless, found jobs in Belfast engineering works, and there was increased employment in the textile sector and in more traditional female occupations such as nursing. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 24
Appendix Recent writing on Ireland & World War I New perspectives on the Irish experience of World War I Conventionally, the historiography of early twentieth-century Ireland has been dominated by accounts of often violent conflict between nationalism and unionism; by the clash of soldiers fighting for one side or the other. However, the Irish soldiers of World War I and of the immediately following years were more than diametrically opposed contending groups. While they fought against each other in 1916 and after, and certainly their differences, above all else, were emphasised during those years, there were common factors and impulses which made those Irish people act as they did. In the matters of enlistment and mobilisation, of fighting and suffering casualties, there were striking similarities. Keith Jeffery argues that the separate experiences of Redmondites, unionists and advanced nationalists actually constitute a series of parallel texts', in which the similarities might be more significant than the differences, great though they were in political terms.* Enlistment and mobilisation This is particularly true of the complex spectrum of forces impelling Irishmen to join the British army and the Irish Volunteers and Citizen Army, encompassing low as well as high causes, venal and valiant, selfish and selfless. Men were motivated by Just Causes and Big Words : Country, Freedom, Duty, Democracy, Liberty and Civilisation. They were also driven by the need to earn a living and the desire for adventure comradeship and excitement. Blood sacrifice The notion of a blood sacrifice was not Patrick Pearse s alone. It was a European notion and one shared by a unionist from County Dublin. Reflecting that his division, the 10th Irish, had been shattered in a week in 1916 without material gain, he added, Yet, all was not in vain. It is no new thing for the sons of Ireland to perish in a forlorn hope and a fruitless struggle; they go forth to battle only to fall, yet there springs from their graves a glorious memory for the example of future generations. Military methods Methods of waging the World War I and the Easter Rising were also similar. Guerrilla warfare might have better forwarded the aims of the advanced nationalists, but the tactics they chose were those of an orthodox military operation. Pearse was determined to challenge the might of the British Empire openly in the field of battle, for Pearse required violence to have not just a moral basis but a moral mode of expression. With uniformed and disciplined troops the republican leaders sought to secure proper belligerent status, legitimately representing a Sovereign Independent State, as the 1916 Proclamation put it. * Ireland and the Great War, CUP, 2000, p. 2 Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 25
Appendix The Easter Rising The Oxford Companion to Irish History edited by S.J. Connolly, OUP, 1998, 1-19866-240-8, 487-8 The Easter Rising of 1916 was planned by the military council established in May 1915 by the supreme council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). In this inner group Sean MacDermott and Thomas Clarke of the supreme council executive collaborated with Pearse, Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887-1916), Thomas MacDonagh, and Eamon Ceannt (1881-1916), all key figures in the Irish Volunteers. They concealed their plans from the Volunteer commander-in-chief, Eoin MacNeill, and to some extent from other members of the IRB. In January 1916 James Connolly who had been planning independent action by the Irish Citizen Army, was admitted to the conspiracy. The nature of the military thinking behind the rising remains unclear. The original plan envisaged a general rising, in Dublin and the provinces, with provision for a westward retreat if the capital could not be held. This was undermined by two developments. On 22 April a German steamer, the Aud, carrying rifles and machine guns to arm the provincial insurgents, was captured and scuttled by its captain. The same day MacNeill, who had been temporarily induced to acquiesce in the planned rising, published an order cancelling all Volunteer movements for Sunday 23rd. It was at this point that the leaders, by deciding to rise in Dublin with whatever forces they could still collect, unequivocally abandoned considerations of military feasibility. But well before that point the sketchy nature of their planning suggests that most were driven less by a real hope of victory than by the idea of reviving nationalist militancy through a bold gesture. The rising began on Easter Monday, 24 April, when about 1,000 Volunteers and just over 200 members of the Citizen Army seized the General Post Office and other sites in Dublin. A proclamation was read in the name of the provisional government of the Irish Republic. Fighting continued until the insurgents surrendered on 29 April. There were supporting actions in Wexford, Galway, and Co. Dublin, and an attempted mobilization in Cork. In Dublin 64 insurgents were killed, along with 132 crown forces and about 230 civilians, and extensive use of artillery devastated much of the city centre. The government s reaction to the insurrection has been widely blamed for converting initial popular hostility to the insurgents into widespread sympathy. The murder of Francis Sheehy Skeffington, and the apparent summary killing of civilians by soldiers during fighting in North King Street, along with widespread arrests and the continuation of martial law, undoubtedly alienated many. Other accounts, however, suggest that the spectacle of nationalists offering a credible military challenge to crown forces had itself been sufficient to win a degree of public approval. Overall the official response was less draconian than poorly judged and unbalanced. Fifteen leaders were executed, along with Sir Roger Casement, arrested after landing in Co. Kerry from a German submarine. Yet other participants, including such key figures as de Valera and Collins, not only survived, but in most cases were free within a matter of months to begin the construction of a new separatist movement. Brierley, 1916_Blackpool, 26