Patrick Pearse

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  • People in History



Patrick Pearse (1879-1916) was born in Great Brunswick Street - now called Pearse Street in his honour - in Dublin. His father was James Pearse, a Catholic convert. He was originally from England and worked successfully as an artisan and stonemason. His mother, Margaret Brady, was from a Co. Meath family that had fled to Dublin to escape the effects of the Famine.

Both Patrick and his devoted younger brother Willie - who was also involved in the republican movement - were educated at the Christian Brothers School on Westland Row. There they developed a strong interest in the Irish language and literature.

Patrick joined the Gaelic League while still a teenager. He subsequently attended the Royal University, a forerunner of University College Dublin, where he studied arts. He later studied law at Trinity College Dublin and King's Inns.