Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol

The Easter Rising of 1916 was a curious event, tiny in comparison with the rebellion of 1798, for instance, with only about 2,000 people actively taking part in it. It was disastrously badly organised and commanded very little public support, but its martyred heroes glow in the struggle against British rule.

On Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, Padraic Pearse, at the head of 150 men armed with ancient rifles and farm tools, took over the General Post Office, where he solemnly read out a stirring document proclaiming a new Irish Republic. Meanwhile, volunteers took over other buildings – a brewery, lunatic asylum, factory and bakery. Many Dubliners were as bemused as the British. The fighting lasted six days, and on the Saturday Pearse surrendered. Over 400 people had died, much of central Dublin lay in ruins, and the leaders of the Rising were even less popular than they had been t the start.

The tide turned when the authorities had 14 of them shot in te yard at Kilmainham Gaol, including Pearse and James Connolly. From then on, they were republican heroes. The release of hundreds of Irish internees later that year (among them Arthur Griffith, founder of Sinn Fein, Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins) did nothing to assuage the bitterness that surrounded the aftermath of Easter Rising.

Today Kilmainham Gaol, last used as such in 1924, is an excellent if grim museum documenting the Irish struggle for independence. See it on you tour of Ireland with Ireland Luxury Tours.