The 1916 Rising Was Not A Blood Sacrifice or Terrorism

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Tuesday March 25, 2008 10:21

by Jim

Revisionists of all shades need to be refuted.

Two intellectually lazy revisionist views have gained ground in the popular Irish historical mythology in relation to the Easter Rising.

1) That the Easter Rising was a a deliberate romantic blood sacrifice by rebels who knew in advance that they would fail.

2) That the Easter Rising was a terrorist act.

The truth is that Easter Rising was very nearly a successful overthrow of British Rule.

Eoin McNeill would certainly not have ordered the cancellation of the Rising had Roger Casement and the Aud slipped through with thousands of modern bolt action 7.92mm K98 Mauser rifles (effectively the AK-47 of the period of the Great War and used by elite German soldiers until the end of World War 2) and not to mention a consignment of Maxim machine guns.

The strategy and tactics and the overall plan to seize the capital was sound if enough men had actually turned out.

Even though Pearse, Connally et al knew that McNeill cancellation order removed a substantial number of men they had good reasons to assume that more men than the number who actually turned out for the rebellion would be available.

Besides once the rebellion kicked off it was not unreasonable to assume their ranks would be swelled by volunteers who had a change of mind - McNeill and co might well have been tempted to issue a new order to support the rebellion.

The standard version of history spoon fed to school kids is that the rebels were incompetant, seizing public buildings as strong points and isolating themselves to be defeated in detail once the British Army cordon was established.

In fact the majority of British casualties were inflicted on the Northumblerland Rd approach to Mount Street over the Grand Canal. Sherwood Forrestors had been landed at Kingstown and were marching on the city centre when they ran into an ambush crossfire by a party of seventeen volunteers who held Clanwilliam house and other buildings. The area was carpeted with dead and wounded British troops before the volunteers were eventually overrun, captured, wounded and killed.
British forces eventually closed the cordon roughly around the Royal and Grand Canals before crossing in forays into the city centre cutting off the key rebel held buildings and eventually forcing a surrender.
Had more volunteers turned up theoretically every bridge on the canals could have been contested as fiercely as Mount Street Bridge effectively preventing British troops from retaking the city centre.
British forces in Trinity College and Dublin Castle who held out against rebel attacks could have been force to surrender had this happened.
If more men had been available it is likely that the British attack from the direction of the Royal barracks (present day Collins Barracks) up the keys to relieve Dublin Castle could have been repelled.
With the bridges inaccessible the fighting at the South Dublin Union which attempted hold back British forces advancing from the West might not have succeeded instead of being outflanked.
Had the Aud got its cargo ashore the rifles could have been used for Risings in Cork and Limerick, a march on Dublin to relieve the garrisons or to continue guerilla attacks against the RIC and British forces to divide Crown forces.
Dublin Castle was initially defended by a handful of Crown forces who were no match for the rebels who could have easily taken it had they better intelligence.

The rebels therefore went out not on a suicide mission but reasonably expecting a good chance of success.

The idea that the rebellion was a terrorist attack on democracy is easily refuted.

The majority of Irish people voted for the Irish Parliamentary Party which had tried and failed to get Home Rule.
That fact that the majority of Irish people switched their vote to Sinn Fein in 1918 makes the rebellion legitimate.

It is true that some rebels did indeed shoot civilians dead - particularly the rebels who were sent on a mission to attack the magazine fort in the Phoenix Park who pursued an shot a young boy, the shooting of poverty striken slum dwellers who looted shops on O' Connell street in a misguided attempt to restore order and the shooting of harmless unarmed constables by overenthusiastic rebels.

However the majority of the rebels wore uniforms and behaved as a disciplined army rather than a rabble.

Indeed a British officer commended the rebels on fighting a fair fight and admired them for their esprit de corps.

Every Irish person should be unashamed to celebrate the bravery of the heroes of 1916 who stood up to arogant British imperialism and won Ireland's freedom.

The claim that the Rising was a stab in the back to Irishmen fighting in the trenches is unfair.

Stopping Germany from conquering Europe was a noble fight too.
But the fight for Irish freedom was also justified.

Irish rebels sourced their weapons from Germany, but they knew that if Germany won they might have to fight German occupation troops in Ireland just as they fought British troops.

Rebellion however was a risk worth taking.