Roger Casement (1864–1916)
Roger Casement was one of the founders of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. Following his mission to raise arms and troops in Germany, he was arrested by British forces in Co. Kerry in 1916 and brought to London where he was executed on 3 August 1916.
Courtesy of the Irish Film InstituteRoger Casement (1864–1916)
Roger Casement was one of the founders of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. Following his mission to raise arms and troops in Germany, he was arrested by British forces in Co. Kerry in 1916 and brought to London where he was executed on 3 August 1916.
Courtesy of the Irish Film Institute
During the Great War, the militant members of the two armies in the south of Ireland began to plan a rising. They sent Roger Casement to Germany to buy arms, however he was captured with the arms and hanged for treason.
Proclamation of the Irish Republic
A photograph of a framed copy of the Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the Proclamation of Independence or Irish Proclamation. It hangs in the GPO in Dublin. The Proclamation was read from the steps of the GPO by Patrick Pearse at the beginning of the 1916 Rising. It was signed by Pearse and six others.
© Defence Forces.Proclamation of the Irish Republic
A photograph of a framed copy of the Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the Proclamation of Independence or Irish Proclamation. It hangs in the GPO in Dublin. The Proclamation was read from the steps of the GPO by Patrick Pearse at the beginning of the 1916 Rising. It was signed by Pearse and six others.
© Defence Forces.
On the 24th of April, Easter Monday 1916, about 2,000 Irish Volunteers and 200 from the Irish Citizen Army occupied the General Post Office (GPO) as well as other important buildings in Dublin city. One group of rebels took over the Four Courts and another group took over the South Dublin Union, which is now James’s hospital. They proclaimed the Irish Republic, read the Proclamation and raised the Irish flag for the first time.
The British army were taken by surprise and suffered heavy casualties. Reinforcements arrived from England. The British army shelled the GPO and other buildings. After a week’s fighting, the leaders of the rising surrendered. Many civilians died in the cross-fire. The guns and fires had destroyed much of the city and the GPO was in ruins.