Padraig Pearse
Padraig Pearse was a teacher, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist. He was one of the main leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. This photograph was taken in New York in 1914.
Image courtesy of the Pearse MuseumPadraig Pearse
Image courtesy of the Pearse Museum
Image courtesy of the Pearse Museum
Padraig Pearse
Padraig Pearse was a teacher, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist. He was one of the main leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. This photograph was taken in New York in 1914.
Image courtesy of the Pearse Museum
Patrick (Pádraig) Pearse (1879-1916) was born in Dublin and had a great interest in the Irish language and spent many summers in Rosmuc in Galway learning Irish. At first he just wanted a parliament in Dublin rather than total independence from Britain. However, he later decided to start a rebellion and fight for independence. He established a school for boys, St. Enda’s School, where children could learn about Irish culture and language.
During the 1916 Rising, Pearse was in charge of the General Post Office (G.P.O.). When the British army overpowered the Irish rebels, it was Pearse who ordered their general surrender in order to save further loss of life. He was tried and executed by a firing squad in Kilmainham Jail on the 3rd of May 1916. His younger brother Willie was also shot.
In addition to being a teacher and a revolutionary, Patrick Pearse was also a poet and a writer. One of his famous poems is called The Mother. It was written the night before his execution and describes his mother’s thoughts on the death of her two sons.
'The Mother'
By Pádraig Pearse